


Blindsighted

by UpsetFawn



Category: Warframe
Genre: Gen, Octavia's anthem, Spoilers, The Jordas Precept - Freeform, The Second Dream, The War Within, patient zero, spoilers for the following questlines - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-01-18 03:45:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12380223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UpsetFawn/pseuds/UpsetFawn
Summary: Korah triumphing over her demons was only the beginning. When all the skeletons were thought to be out of the closet only one remained. It has the power to set one free from a life of torment, or it could condemn them for all eternity. Whether they wish to let the skeleton out or not, it will force itself out, one way or another.





	1. Dreams of Disorder

_How long had it been? Days? Weeks? Months? It was safe to say that if they weren’t discovered soon they would certainly die. No, no, nobody was going to die on her watch; not if she couldn’t do anything to stop it. But what could she possibly do, she was just a child, a nobody in the face of her peers. Once peers, now that she thought about it. Despite everything they did to her she bit, kicked and blasted away the adults that had swarmed them days ago now. The screams. The blood that complimented the red emergency lights. Death was now an everyday thing, a fight for survival. It always wasn’t that way, they were normal and doting parents and caretakers at one point. It wasn’t until the Void-jump accident that they changed. Not immediately, it was a slow and agonizing process to watch the ones she trusted turn into malicious, murdering savages. They were not themselves anymore._

_“Korah? Kooooooraaaaaaah.”_

_Golden eyes blinked as an ebony-skinned girl, hair red like a ruby, looked up at the child who called her name. The white and black suit shifted in the ominous lighting, once a gold lining now a muddy color. The one who caught her attention was a pale boy with sharp green eyes, hair a dark navy blue. His suit was navy blue and silver, the lining once noticeably a bright copper. A hand was outstretched in her general direction, waiting for hers to be put in it._

_“Come on space gal, time to get moving again, the others are getting antsy.” The green-eyed boy chided with a mischievous smile._

_“Hardy har, Jaxon,” Korah replied, resting her hand in his as she rose to her feet. “How’s Harper holding up?”_

_“Not good,” Jaxon replied as they started to walk, “she’s lost a lot of blood and she’s still slipping in and out of consciousness. If we don’t get her stable soon—”_

_“I know.” Korah cut him off as they rounded a corner, spying their group just ahead. “I’m doing my best here to find what we need, even if it is limited. With the medical bay beyond that elevator, we’re descending into unknown territory. I don’t know how many blood-thirsty adults are down there; nor do I know if there are any survivors that are high on fight-or-flight mode.”_

_“Even with our new abilities, we’re a threat to ourselves just like the adults are.” Jaxon added in, now weaving through the anxious-looking group._

_Korah took a moment to observe the crowd as her friend continued about their predicament. Most looked spooked to their cores, others were ready for a fight, the rest were still trying to wrap the situation around their heads. Korah herself? She would fight if she had to; besides, with these creepy cool new powers why wouldn’t she? They were given to her for a reason, only the timing of her gift was lousy as ever. She had killed people. People whom she once called friend and family. That honestly was the fucked-up part, but in her argument, she had done it out of self-defense. She couldn’t run, she couldn’t breathe, her feet had been off the floor, back pinned against the wall. All she did was raise her hand and the pressure against her neck had lifted, she could hear screaming, the next thing she knew—_

_“Korah!”_

_A sharp elbow in the side brought the dark-skinned girl out of her horrid memories and back to the nightmare at hand. An equally sharp glare was shot at Jaxon, who simply gestured his head towards the new ringleader of the group. A friend of her former peers, quiet but he got things done. He was naming off names of those who would be going down to the medical bay, grab what they needed, and then run back here like a bat out of hell. It sounded like a good idea up in the air, but Korah couldn’t help but get a nagging sensation at the back of her head. Something that told her that things weren’t as they seemed, wrong even. That feeling only intensified when Jaxon’s name was called, immediately followed up by hers. The sense of dread, however, was not shared. Jaxon placed a hand on her scarlet hair, ruffling it._

_“Well at least we won’t be worrying about each other coming back safely,” he grinned as she flailed her arms at him, “you’ve got my back and I’ve got yours. We’ve got this!”_

_“You know it buddy.” Korah returned the grin to the best of her ability, albeit a little uneasy._

_“Operator…”_

_Huh? What was that noise? Blinking, she looked around for the source, eyes wide. Time seemed to be on pause, frozen, unmoving._

_“Operator…!”_

_There it was again. Now that she had heard it for the second time, there was something oddly familiar about it. It sounded a lot like…_

~ * ~

“Operator!!”

The word jolted Korah wide awake; with a yelp, she panicked and fell out of bed with a thud. Her Kubrow, Legolas, perked his head up at the sound before trotting over to her with the usual whine-‘n-nudge.

“’m fine buddy.” She groaned as its tongue wiped itself against her cheek. “Just had the pants scared off me by Pollux.”

“But Operator, you do not have pants. You wear a Transference Suit.”

There was that direct and humble cephalon Korah had come to know. A bit of a smile tugged at her cheeks but she held it back. Pollux was always worrying about her, ever since the day Volt had saved her from the Reservoir. But that was part of his coding, it was his duty as ship cephalon to ensure the safety and protection of his Operator and Warframes. Even when Volt was running away from Vor and his Grineer Pollux came screaming out of the sky to pick him up for extraction. Well, technically Volt was Korah, but at the time she had no idea, she had completely forgotten after sleeping for so long. How she forgot something so important, so critical, was baffling. That was in the past now, that was all that mattered. What mattered now was the present and why she was awoken so rudely.

“So, what’s with the wake-up call Poly, some Grineer galleon chasing after us?” Korah asked as she stretched her arms towards the ceiling.

“Your REM had heightened in activity—higher than usual Operator.” Pollux answered plainly, answering her possible mental query.

“It’s just REM sleep Poly, geez…” Korah scoffed. “When will you ever learn that dreams are just dreams, they’re not rea—”

“You mentioned a name, two to be precise.” The ship cephalon cut in. “Jaxon and Harper. Query: who are these two individuals?”

Had she spoken aloud in her sleep? That…was not the worst thing that had happened to her while resting on her Liset.

“They were…friends of mine.” She explained, standing to get the kinks out of her knees. She hammered her brain for memories, but she couldn’t recall many. “On the Zariman Ten Zero…We stuck together for as long as we could before…we were transferred into the Warframes.” She shook her head, clearing it. “Sorry, I don’t remember much about them after that.”

“Not to worry Operator, you were asleep for a very long time,” Pollux assured. “Memories come and go, I am certain the longer you focus on the subject the more likely you will recover them.”

“That’s what you always say!” Korah retorted to the ship’s hull.

Her feet carried her out to the main section of the Liset, the cold hitting her right in the face, causing a shiver to roll over her body.

“Heat systems are still offline Operator, I should have warned you about that. Repairs are at 92% and will finish after you’ve had substance.” The cephalon continued.

“Yeah yeah.” The young adult waved off her artificial companion, now entering the kitchen.

Ah, the kitchen, the place of good food and a greedy Kubrow trying to steal the scraps. There was a reason why there was an energy fence in the doorway, and for good reason. She didn’t even need to look over her shoulder to see the sad puppy eyes staring at her from the doorway. Nope, she wasn’t going to fall for it, not after she found half his body in the fridge horfing down the leftover gobblebeast. He would, however, get his bowl of kibble first before Korah focused on a meal for herself. In the end, she decided on buttered toast with jam, yes, she knew she was making Pollux writhe internally. Mostly because this was the fourth day in a row she had this exact same meal for breakfast. Korah didn’t care, she liked the flavor of the jam, blackberry to be precise, and no matter how much her cephalon would gripe and groan she would stand her ground. Besides the credits that she got from mercenary work was more than enough to pay for food and all the necessities around the ship.

“Operator, if I may suggest, you should have your sleep condition examined thoroughly.” Pollux chimed up as she kicked the fridge door shut with a clunk.

“It was just a dream Poly,” Korah retorted with a groan, “nothing more nothing less. Who cares if I have dreams about the past? They’re there and I can’t do anything to change them.”

“But perhaps they are a warning, a signal, an omniscient sign that—” The worried Cephalon droned on and on until…

“Poly, enough.” Korah narrowed her eyes at the hull of the ship, silencing her ‘caretaker’. “You’re working yourself into a panic again. You’re going to blow another fuse if you continue.”

The Ship Cephalon was quiet for a moment before surrendering. “I—yes, Operator, you’re right.”

“The only time you’re allowed to panic is when things are going tits up. Okay?” Korah found herself smiling again, knowing what was coming.

“Language, Operator!” Came the shocked robotic voice.

“Make me!” The Tenno said with a laugh.

Life was good. Korah wouldn’t have it any other way.

~ * ~

“Operator, new alerts are available at the navigation console.” The cephalon stated in that familiar ‘get-to-it’ tone. “Or how about helping the Corpus deal with an Infestation problem on Saturn? Several void fissures have been spotted around Mercury, Mars, and Uranus. Or you could—”

“Enjoy my coffee while it’s hot and lazily look through my inbox.” Korah interrupted as she queued up the system to check her mail.

“But Operator, the system—”

“Can wait five minutes.” The ebony woman cut in once again, taking a swig of black caffeine. “Seriously, it’s not like it’s on the verge of imploding at this very minute, is it. Relax.”

It seemed that she needed to be extra firm with him today. She didn’t like to be firm with her friend, but if it saved her the trip of hunting down yet another fuse so be it. Worrying was his greatest strength and weakness, he just needed to loosen up now and then, take a load off. Just because an alert popped up during a spy mission didn’t give him the right to bother her to drop everything and go for it then and there. In the end, Korah did end up taking that alert and got a sweet new helmet for her Volt frame. She would’ve preferred a different suit pattern but eh, beggars can’t be choosers.

Right then, mail time. Looks like she was quite the popular cookie this quiet morning. Well, almost quiet as Legolas grumbled as he stretched before jamming his head under her coffee free arm. With a quiet laugh, she scratched between his ears affectionately. First up, another death threat from Stalker. Deleted. Go get a better hobby dude. Battle pay accepted and deleted. Baro at the Orcus Relay in three days. Eh, she might as well see what he scavenged up this time, he always had something good. Keep it as a reminder. Darvo has something new up for grabs, and Clem needs help? Keeping that, no second thoughts there. Whenever Clem needed help there were riches to be shared and bastards to headshot. Yet another death threat, this time from the New Loka. Keep crying, destroying history and knowledge is a horrible thing to do, Korah had no regrets joining up with the cephalon and sharing what little knowledge with her. To be honest, Korah thought Suda would be disappointed with her for not being able to answer all her questions, but Suda was ecstatic, thanking the Tenno for her discoveries and banking them. Speaking of which…

There, above a mercenary work request was a message from Suda. Intrigued, Korah opened it and began to read:

 

_Operator Korah,_

_My latest obsession is a rather curious one, for it has not struck me before. Music has always been a part of your culture. Forgive me if I am wrong, I seem to have more…glitches according to Imaris. Do not listen to that stubborn-guided Cephalon, he only plans to hold you back from your true potential by hunting down meaningless creatures. Please come to any relay at your earliest convenience._

_Cephalon Suda_

 

Music? From what Korah could recall, there wasn’t much culture related music at all, it was, more or less, an amenity, a luxury. Either way, her curiosity was spiked as she downed the rest of her coffee before the icicle of a spaceship could chill it any further. It would have to wait though, she had a date with some Grineer who needed to be taught a lesson.

“Pollux set a course for Telesto on Saturn. I’ll reply to the mercenary request that I will be there within the hour.”

“Yes, Operator, cycling the engines now to take us out of orbit.”


	2. Manda-what?

          The flurry of spaceships darted in, out and around the Rhea Relay. From this distance, one could see the gigantic sphere that surrounded hub of activity, down below the gas giant. Ever since the destruction of the Vesper, Strata, Leonov, and Kuiper relays, it was a unanimous decision of the residing Syndicates that further precautions and countermeasures would have to be taken to prevent Vay Hek destroying anymore. Yes, there were plans to rebuild the lost relays, but with the recent turn of events, that project had been put on hold. The engines hummed as they slowed down upon entry, Pollux mumbling to the crew as he was instructed to a docking bay. Korah, currently inhabiting her Nova warframe, stretched her arms towards the ceiling and crick-cracked her neck side to side. The merc contract turned out to be a great way to start off the day and wake up, and now that she was alert she decided to check in and see what her Syndicate was talking about. The message she had sent her was brief and to the point, unlike the typical, longwinded, drawn-out messages. Those were the messages she liked reading the most, but Pollux had semi-convinced her that it must have been important if she had kept it short.

          There was a clunk as the ship connected, the walls moving as she was rotated out and onto the Relay. It was still rather quiet; a few civilians were slowly trickling into work for the morning shift while others gossiped about whatever. Korah didn’t have much to do here, just go to Suda and then see if she needed any help with whatever she needed. However, that was easier said than done…

“HUNTER, DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THIS IDIOT CEPHALON…” And there he was, the big cheese himself. “SPEWING CORRUPT DATA STREAMS ABOUT MUSIC OF ALL THINGS…” Shut up. “THE EPITOME OF MEANINGLESS DATA. SHE OUGHT TO BE DISCONNECTED FROM THE WEAVE AND ERASED.”

          Korah turned her head towards where Simaris’ room should be on the second floor, glared, and rose her middle finger in retaliation. The few souls who had been in the room overheard the distasteful comment then noticed her silent response, some snorting in humor.

“VERY MATURE FOR SOMEONE WHO CONSIDERS ONESELF AS AN ADULT. I SHOULD APPLAUD YOUR ADOLESCENCE.”

“Whatever happened to not hounding me every time I enter the relays?” Korah snapped as Suda slowly formed into existence. “I don’t want to do Sanctuary work every single day. I like having my freedom.”

“I believe that is enough bickering for now.” Suda’s smooth voice disrupted the argument, Korah internally sighing in relief. “I must thank you for coming on such short notice Tenno.”

“Don’t mention it.” Replied Korah nonchalantly. “Now, about your message…why has music caught your attention?”

“Yes, music. Have you ever felt that way? A song that anchors a memory? How a melody or verse returns you to a place you thought forgotten?” Suda’s minor ramble left a confused look on Korah’s face. Where was she going with this? “If you are truly curious, about my musical archives, prove it. Build the Mandachord.”

“Sorry, a Manda-what?” The voice of the confused Tenno echoed.

“A MANDACHORD KORAH.” Boomed Simaris. Ugh, he never gave up, did he? “PLEASE, TELL ME YOU ARE NOT GOING TO STRIKE FEAR INTO THE HEARTS OF YOUR ENEMIES WITH SONNETS AND HYMNS.”

“You know what, you’re right Simaris, I won’t,” Korah paused to let Simaris get ready to boast again before grinning. “I’ll prance around with a lute singing songs from the Dark Ages.”

“YOU WOULDN’T THINK OF DOING SUCH A THING!” Simaris’ horrified voice nearly made Korah burst out laughing.

“Aw come on, I even have the outfit finished and everything!” Korah thrust her arms in the air in pretend protest.

“KORAH. DO. NOT. DO IT.” His voice turned to a more serious tone now, almost threatening.

“Simaris.” She had to blow her cover now before he did something they’d all regret. “I’m being sarcastic.” If one listened closely enough they could hear a soft sigh. “But I’m still going after the Mandicord. Suda, could you send what I need to Pollux? It’d be appreciated.”

          Before the Sanctuary guardian could utter another word Korah made an expeditious exit and headed back towards her Liset. She and Simaris never really got along, they had their differences, especially after Simaris tried to bully Pollux into “sharing” confidential information, saying it would “benefit” the Sanctuary. While she and Pollux also had their differences, but they had been through a lot. In fact, Korah wouldn’t even be alive without his help. In return, Korah had helped Pollux out with his own problems, such as that time the Corpus tried to hack his presets to turn him against her, or that other time the Grineer shot down Pollux and she had to fight them off while he tried to get airborne. She needed Pollux to be a successful Tenno, and he needed Korah to fulfill his duties as a ship Cephalon. The two of them were their own little awkward family, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

          For a moment she paused and looked up at the elevators, wondering if she should pay them a visit. She supposed she could at least take on a Sanctuary target if she wandered through an enemy rich environment. Clem also still needed help with retrieving a relic from Grineer douchebags but…it could wait. Marching orders had been received and this whole music thing, it intrigued Korah. There had to be more to this story, why the Syndicate leader had taken up a new hobby, one could say she had a very good gut feeling when something was up. This was no different. With her mind made up, she headed out the way she came, past the swarm of other Warframes as they chattered and laughed with each other.

          Seeing them…so happy and enjoying each other’s company, having time away from the battlefield and just relaxing…it made Korah tear up without even noticing it until the droplets were on her cheek. Her own Warframe mimicked the movement as she wiped the bitter water away from her face. Why was she crying? No, she knew exactly why she was crying. Jaxon and Harper. God dammit Pollux why did you have to bring them up this morning, it made her realize that she missed them more than she realized. Her memories of them were fuzzy, true, but one fact was evident that they were closer than glue on paper, a pack of Kavats. She bit her tongue as she continued out to the hangar, squeezing through a packed crowd. She was trying to remember, aside from that dream last night, what they sounded like, what happened to them. Unfortunately, she came up with nothing; her mind was but a blank slate. That was the ultimate form of frustration and sorrow, she wanted to remember but why couldn’t she?? Sighing, Korah boarded her ship as it disembarked and headed off for space. She would have to figure out her stupid brain later, have it dissected or something, anything. Well, no, not anything, that would make Tyl Regor have a nerd-gasam. Scratch that.

“Operator, is everything alright?” Pollux’s voice rose in concern once they were safely cleared of the relay.

“No, not really…” The ramp descended as she walked further into the ship, preparing for the fight ahead. “I’ll be ok though, no need to worry about me. It’s something I need to figure out on my own.”

“If you say so Operator, but know this, I will be available at any time to talk about it.” Assured Pollux.

“As you always are, buddy.” She affectionately patted the hull as she entered her arsenal, determining her options.

          Might as well pop open her inbox while she was at it, lo and behold there was a message from Suda, as she requested, a more detailed explanation along with a set of coordinates for Pollux. As she read a devilish sneer spread across her features.

          Corpus, huh? Oh, this was going to be a field day.

~ * ~

          For an Orokin instrument, it wasn’t bad looking, it was quite fashionable. One would have to leave it to the Corpus to break everything and try to sell it off for scrap. That seemed to be their signature trademark, everything had to be for profit or it wasn’t worth their time or seen as important in their eyes. Korah lifted the cobalt and magenta instrument off the foundry, turning it over in her hands, examining it further. Up close, it had a lot more details, every one of them music inclined. Perhaps this was another sound-based Warframe, like Banshee, but with a twist. What that twist was it was worth investigating at this point, Schrodinger’s cat had been let out of the box and there was no going back now.

“The Mandachord.” Suda’s excited tone made her frame jump slightly, she might never get used to beings randomly popping in on her frequency. “Its purpose defies all logic for all it produces is sound. An artifact of irrationality, and yet I know its power is so much more.”

“Really, how so?” Korah inquired. Seemed she was right about one thing. But when the silence dragged on, she quietly spoke up, not wanting to interrupt the Cephalon’s thought process. “Suda? What about the Mandachord, what about it makes it powerful?”

          Silence.

“Suda?” The Tenno repeated, a little louder now.

“The Mandachord? Right…forgive me, it seems I have misplaced my data logs.” Suda replied, “I have sent Pollux coordinates to where I first learned of this knowledge. Go there and I will recover data along the way.”

          This was…rather worrisome. The Cephalon had rarely gotten anything wrong or had lost something in their time knowing each other. This was the first time something like this had happened. Perhaps she was overthinking things way too early. Heh, and earlier this morning she was telling Pollux to relax. Perhaps she should take a bottle of her own medicine.

~ * ~

          It wasn’t long until the Liset hovered over Stephano’s landing zone on Uranus. Rain, per the norm, making Volt’s landing that a little trickier, but nonetheless stuck the landing. The last time Korah was here, Tenshin was leading her to the depths of an underwater cavern where Tyl’s Grineer were mining deep below towards the planet’s core. It was also here that the Sentient, Hunhow, was aroused from his god who knows how long slumber. Hunhow. Just the name itself sent chills up her spine. It was because of him that she had traveled to the reservoir on Lua to save herself. So many years had passed and Korah had completely forgotten that she was human, a Tenno, once a child. All thanks to the Void-jump accident even longer ago, that was when she was mutated by the Void, granting her powers. But her parents…

          No, she wasn’t going to let her mind get distracted any further than that, she needed to focus on slitting Grineer throats more rather than reminiscing the past. It was hard not to, she was starting to recognize more and more of her surroundings, it was just down these stairs, to the right, down again…yep, here it was. The excavation site, now put to a grinding halt as the new Grineer on duty desperately tried to drain the caverns of water, which was more or less her doing. Actually, it was her doing, but she did it upon Lotus’ request, and even then, it was all pointless as now Hunhow was still at large and nobody knew where he was. He was out there, somewhere, gloating, plotting evil things most likely. She snorted at the idea of Hunhow drumming his fingers together, twirling a spiral mustache laughing evilly. Now that imagery helped her ease up a tad. It also helped her notice something new out of the corner of her eye. Orokin of origin, but it was a machine she had never seen before. To make sure the coast was clear she used a codex scanner to sweep the area, and when no lifeforms were picked up she approached the apparatus.

“Pollux, do you know what this thing is?” Korah questioned, running her hand along the brim of the machine.

“Hold on, one second while I scan my memory banks.” Came Pollux’s reply, returning a few moments later. “It is a Hydraulus, an instrument that produces sound from water.”

“Ok?” The Volt put its hands sassily on its hips. “What does that mean for me, in layman’s terms.”

“Well, Suda did say she received the dataset of how to use the Mandachord here,” Pollux responded, “I would look for stress-lines or wear on the machine, where it was used the most. Perhaps you can recreate the song that was played on this Hydraulus eons ago.”

“But, I’ve never touched an instrument in my life…” Korah admitted sheepishly, examining it thoroughly.

“Now is the time to learn then, isn’t it Operator?” The Cephalon egged on. “You’re smart Operator, I know you can figure it out.”

          Rolling her eyes, she placed her hands on the oversized keys. While not visible to the naked eye, she could feel it, scuff marks and dings, divots at some points. Pollux was right, there were stress marks. Trusting her gut, she pushed one button furthest to her left and the machine sprung to life. Music, loud music began to fill the area, she would have to recreate this song fast before the patrols came around to figure out what in the world was making the racket. Bottom left, space, space, space…uhh…shit. Why did it have to be a historical instrument and something a little more modern? She struggled with pushing the button down before it slammed down, locking it into place. Great. Not only was she making a ruckus, she was destroying historic artifacts in the process. Suda would have her head if she saw her do that. Never mind about Suda chewing her out, she needed to figure this out! Single, single, double, get clem! …get clem?

          Korah whipped around and shocked the first scout Grineer she saw coming out of the doorway. The bolt went straight through his skull, and she turned back to the machine as he fell with a disgusting splat. Uh…where was she? Oh yeah, single, single, single!

“That…song…” Suda mumbled over the intercom. “I recognize that song, how do you know Octavia’s anthem Tenno?”

“How do I...? I just followed the stress marks, I don’t know it by memory.” Korah explained. “Are we done here? Do we have what we need?”

“Yes and no.” Continued Suda. “There’s more on…on…Lua. There’s more to the anthem on Lua. I will send your Cephalon the coordinates, I fear that…oh…”

          The fragmented words that abruptly ended Suda’s broadcast made her spine straighten out in anxiety. Never had she heard her Syndicate leader sound so broken, so terrified. What was going on with Suda, that was the main question at hand. Perhaps, solving this anthem would undo whatever was happening to her. No, that was just wishful thinking, Korah was doubtful that a humble song would solve the Cephalon’s problems. It was probably a data issue, a glitch, something else that needed to be cleaned up and terminated before it affected her any further.

“ _TENNO SKOOM_!!”

          That was Korah’s signal to make her exit, and she just had enough energy to spare to let loose a discharge to trip them up. It would give her enough time to hop, skip and jump away to safety and out of this horrible place.

“Pollux, meet me up for extraction, we’re done here!” She requested as she slid and eviscerated some poor lancer’s belly.

“Yes, but Operator, what about Suda? What should we do about her?” Pollux inquired, sounding worried.

“I-I don’t know buddy, we’ll figure something out. Something’s eating away at her and we’ll get to the bottom of it.” She paused. “Promise.” The Warframe landed gracefully on the lift and pressed the button to bring her up to the next level. “It’s too early on to say what exactly is affecting her. I would go back to the relay to check in on her in person, but that won’t do any good at all would it?”

“We’re going to continue to Lua then?” Pollux sighed, almost in regret. “Very well Operator, cycling hyperdrive engines now.”

          As Korah bullet jumped her way towards the extraction point there were no words of welcoming her back or thanks. She was on a mission now to get to the bottom of this. Whatever was affecting Suda seemed to have spooked Pollux, and having a spooked ship Cephalon was a big no-no. Even so, words didn’t seem to be the right choice for comfort at the moment. They were still in the dark, grabbing at straws no less, which in the end even Korah knew would only cause more panic and confusion. The stars zipped by in a mosaic of white lines, the Liset speeding through space as fast as it could. Her feet carried her down and into the main part of the orbiter. Legolas was running in his sleep, lips pulled back into a snarl, and then emitted a sleepy bark. The scene eased Korah, a bit, seeing him so peaceful and relaxed. Legolas had no idea what was going on. She knelt and stroked his body, sleep barking intensified as he ripped out the throats of who knows what in his dreams. That’s right buddy, kill them all. The moment was rudely interrupted by a comm request by, oh god Simaris. What the hell did he want now? She rose her hand to tap answer on her holo-hud but paused. He probably was going to do nothing but trash talk Suda wasn’t he, how her music corruptive passiveness would kill them all or something. That sounded like Mister Banana Laffy Taffy alright. Request denied, he could wait until this was all over, she did not need his monotonic douchebaggery right now. All she needed to do was think.

~ * ~

          Lua brought back memories, some good, some not so good, but they had transformed her into the person she was today. It was here that Volt had run through the abandoned Orokin halls and watched the body fall from the reservoir when she remembered that she was human after all. Where she confronted Tenshin about his activities, and how it all led up to confronting the Grineer Queens with her old yet new Void powers. Because of him, she wouldn’t have made it this far. In the end, this was a place of growth and evolution. She started to smile when Suda crackled onto her channel.

“Lua…what are we doing here? Who are you…?” Her voice was clouded in confusion, causing Nova to stop dead in the hallway.

“It’s me, Korah. You brought us here to get the next piece of Octavia’s anthem.” The red-haired Tenno replied, doing her best to sound calm and composed.

“I did…why did…? Oh, of course. Octavia’s anthem. Forgive me, I—oh not again…”

          There was no need to cry out in alarm this time, Korah was doing her best to build an immunity against her forgetful ins and outs. That didn’t stop it from being worrisome though, Suda was becoming less and less the Cephalon she knew. For now, she would proceed further into the ruins. The next Hydraulus had to be in the vicinity somewhere, she just had to keep her eyes peeled for it. Deeper and deeper she traveled until she heard a stomach-churning, familiar hum of a…

“Sentients?!” The Syndicate Cephalon exclaimed, the familiar reddish stick-like creatures moving in on the attack of the shocked Tenno. “But how did they…What? He’s just an Old War memory…Get out!! I won’t let you take—”

“ ** _mY bOdY. mY cHiLdReN. i Am HeRe._** ”

“Hunhow?!” Both Tenno and Cephalon Pollux almost screamed the name.

“Hunhow, what have you done with Suda??” Nova leaped out of the way of an attack, retaliating with a blast from her Braton.

“ ** _ThAt Is NoT oF yOuR cOnCeRn TeNnO. yOuR pReScEnCe HeRe WiLl SoOn Be ErAdIcAtEd._** ” Hunhow spoke plainly, a horrid mix of his voice and Suda’s. “ ** _cHiLdReN, fInD tHe AnThEm._** ”

“Operator there’s too many of them, you need to get out of this room and lock the door!” A panicked Pollux ordered.

          That was one order that Korah could get behind. At least she got one of those Sentient monsters, watching it explode in a blaze of glory. Quick as a bunny Nova bullet jumped up and away to safety, screaming down the ruined hallways as fast as she could. She eventually cleared a door and, as soon as she made it through, she bounced back and smashed the control panel to lock it permanently. Even doing so, it did not stop Sentients from dropping through the ceiling behind her. As she turned to face them, there, in the center, was another Hydraulus.

“The Hydraulus!” Cephalon Suda gasped, “Stop them! They want to—”

“ ** _dEsTrOy It. SiLeNcE tHe AnThEm. SiLeNcE tHe WaRfRaMe WhOsE mAlIgN pItCh CaN cRoSs ThE gAp ItSeLf._** ”

          So much for locking the door behind her. Now she was forced to fight these monstrosities. Just when she thought she was done with Hunhow he came back. Well, if he could easily bounce back after being ripped in half in sword form, then Korah could easily shut him down once again. With a deep breath, she took on a fighting stance, preparing for whatever his Sentients had in store for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We get a little piece of action and, dun dun DUN, Mr. Big Bad shows his ugly face already! Trust me I have a lot more in store for Blindsighted so don't throw your snacks at the screen just yet.
> 
> Seriously Octavia's Anthem is probably my favorite warframe quest thusfar. I love it to bits.
> 
> And you gotta have some TENNO SKOOM when grineer are around.


	3. And Then There Was One

“Operator? Operator! Korah!!”

“I’m fine Poly.” The Tenno groaned as she pushed herself off the ground, nursing her left arm as Nova finished securing the room.

          Korah had shed her Warframe to fight as herself, her true appearance. She knew the Sentients could never adapt to Void attacks, and the idea had worked, up until one managed to dislocate her left shoulder.

“What were you thinking, that was incredibly dangerous, you could have—” Her Cephalon was cut off by a sharp noise from the Tenno.

“I knew what I was getting into.” She continued. “I knew the risks and I chose to take them. Be glad I’m not forced to evac or dead.”

“I—yes, you’re right Operator.” Pollux mumbled. “But please, try to take more caution next time.”

“Yeah yeah.” Korah waved off her Cephalon as she and Nova approached the Hydraulus.

          At the halfway point the two bodies merged into once and Nova’s frame visibly jerked to caress her left arm once again. But this caressing motion firmly grasped her shoulder before jerking it backward. Korah yelled and hissed out in pain, nearly falling and hitting her head on the Orokin instrument.

“I’m ok.” She hissed, cutting off any worrying words from the Cephalon. “Just hurting like a motherfucker.”

          Breathe, she had to breathe. Calm herself and the pain would go away. Well, mostly. At least she could still play with one hand, or she hoped she could, the keys back at Uranus were really gummed up. But that was probably the effects of being underwater for a millennium or two. Again, touching the machine made it burst with music, but this pattern was much different. It was not a challenge though, same song second verse all that jazz, and, she was quite thankful that this machine was more well preserved than the other one. A few random buttons later the machine escalated in volume, combining this song along with the one from Uranus.

“ ** _TH_** at s ** _O_** ng! I—” Suda broke through once again, clearly straining against the Sentient. “—the last fragment. Korah, I am so, so, sorry for putting you in danger. This— ** _Is AlL iN vAiN_** —is all my fault. I— **_‘Ll SeNd YoU tO yOuR dOoM_** —will send you the final coordinates. But please, do not try to save me. I am lost— ** _AnD yOu WiLl JoIn YoUr CePhAlOn In DeAtH_**.”

“Hunhow, you BASTARD!!” Korah screeched. “Suda?! SUDA!! Can you hear me?!”

 ** _“aNoThEr CePhAlOn MaDe NuLl_**.” Hunhow gloated. “ ** _ThE oThErS i WiLl DiViDe AnD dEsTrOy. YoU wIlL bE mAdE dAtA-bLiNd_**.”

          The sound of more Sentients arriving made the ceiling above her shudder and quake. There had to be at least a hundred of them above her now, trying to get a piece of her. Speaking of pieces, bits of the ceiling Nova had reinforced moments ago were starting to break away and haphazardly fall towards her.

“You better get out of there Operator!” Pollux’s panicked voice broke the airwaves. “He’s bringing the whole place down on top of you!!”

“I HATE IT WHEN YOU’RE RIGHT!!” Korah screamed.

          No more fighting, there was only running now, there were literally too many of them to handle at once. This was no longer a fight, this was going to be a massacre, ending with her head on a pike if she didn’t move fast enough. As soon as she was outside she could see the Liset barreling over the wreckage of Lua as fast as it could. Nova might as well have dove through the windshield she fell through the ship that fast, and as soon as she was on Pollux kicked in the nitro boosters and got them the hell out of there. She laid there in the navigation room, chest heaving and heart pounding. Her mind was dizzy, she couldn’t think clearly. All she could think of was…of Suda…she…

~ * ~

_The unease was thick as the fog that enveloped them. Lighting was low, even the flashlights that they had brought with them didn’t make a lick of difference. After disembarking the elevator, the team of ten decided to break up into teams of two, as they would cover a lot more ground that way. Jaxon was leading the way, scribbling a spiral on the walls as they made each turn. It was an idea if they marked their progress, they wouldn’t make any wrong moves or worse, get lost. Korah was bringing up the rear, flashing her flashlight in hopes of seeing something. Even if she did, it would be something she did not want to see. A corpse, body parts, gore, blood…Their worst nightmare had yet to rear its ugly head, and the longer she went without seeing any adults her panic would only increase tenfold. By tenfold it meant one hundredfold._

_“Korah, I can feel the air getting moist from your breath.” Jaxon whispered. “You need to calm down.”_

_“I am calm!” The ebony girl hissed back, jumping back when the black-haired boy stuffed his face in hers._

_“See, you’re not calm, you’re scared like a chicken!” He drew his head back, a proud smile on his face._

_“I-well-it’s just that-y’know-um…” Korah stammered, trying to find her words._

_Her stumbled speech was interrupted by a gentle hand on her head, ruffling her hair and messing it up. She made a small noise, flailing her arms and flashlight to wave him off. Jaxon laughed softly as she glared at him, fixing her hair at the same time._

_“Don’t worry, we’ve got a good thing going on here.” Jaxon took a confident pose, grinning wide. “We’re a team here, the best one outta the bunch. We’ll find that medical bay before anyone else, we’ll get those medical supplies to Harper, and she’ll be better than ever!”_

_“Yeah…” Korah nodded with a soft smile._

_“Let’s get a move on then!” The boy whisper-cheered, punching his flashlight to the ceiling. “We’re not gonna find a thing just standin’ around!”_

_The ebony girl jumped backward when something was nearly shoved into her gut. Recalibrating her balance and looking down, she realized Jaxon was offering her his hand. She blinked, confused._

_“What?” She asked._

_“It’s my hand, take it.” Jaxon stated plainly._

_Blinking again, she noticed that Jaxon wasn’t looking at her at this point. Instead, he was looking towards the wall sternly, as if he was glaring at something, but the faint hint of a blush was hard to spot but was there. He was trying to do the nice thing but he was being a tough guy while he was at it. That was so cute. She found him to be quite cute like this. Giggling, she reached out and grabbed his hand gently. This seemed to startle Jaxon, who half expected her to take his hand in the first place. He looked at their joined hands and her face a few times before grinning giddily before softly tugging her along. She felt safe, holding his hand. Well, safer than she was earlier, the spooky atmosphere, on the other hand, had kicked it up a notch. The fog grew in thickness and density, making visibility almost zero. They could barely see the corners of walls unless they blasted their flashlights up to full._

_Just when they thought they had been going in circles, Jaxon gasped and thrust his flashlight forward. There, in the thick fog was a white sign with a red cross in the middle._

_“Look at that Korah!” Jaxon cheered, whipping his head back towards her. “See, what’dya tell ya??”_

_Korah’s face lit up in excitement, the two children becoming giddy in their success. Finally, some good luck headed their way! But wait, if her memory served her correctly, then that would mean the wall to her left would have a sign talking about the signs of early cold symptoms. She waved her flashlight around in that general direction, moving it closer. There in the darkness, she could make out the words ‘if you are experiencing symptoms of the flu, please contact…’. Those words alone made her squeal and stomp her feet, quietly, of course, didn’t want to attract any unwanted attention._

_“Jaxon!!!” She hissed excitedly. “The medical bay is right in front of us, just down the hall!!”_

_“What, are you serious?!” Jaxon whispered back, eyes wide._

_“Race ya!!” With those words, Korah was off in a flash._

_“Wait, Korah!!” Jaxon called after her, “We’re supposed to stay together!!”_

_But she didn’t care, victory was so close to her she could almost taste it! She could save her friend, she could patch up the others, they would be able to make through this now, they would—_

_Korah yelped as the floor gave out beneath her from the heavy pitter patter of excited children’s feet, but her fall was cut short. Something strong and heavy wrapped around her neck, suspending her in midair. She…she couldn’t breathe!! Coughs began to escape from her throat, her feet kicking wildly as she desperately tried to climb back up from where she fell. But she couldn’t she was well and truly stuck. She swore she could hear Jaxon panicking a few feet above her, fingertips swiping across her brow. Her mind was growing fuzzy, she couldn’t focus on kicking her feet anymore, eyelids growing heavy, hand, slowly losing her grip on whatever snared itself around her neck…_

~ * ~

          The room faded in and out, a blur of grays and reds as consciousness was regained. Korah coughed, reaching up to place her hand on her neck. There was nothing there, thank god. As the room started to swim into view she started to recognize it more and more as the infected infirmary. Pollux had told her that this mass in particular a long time ago that it served her and her Warframes. She figured that it had sensed she was fucked up badly when she crash landed on the ship and had dragged her unconscious Warframe down into this room. With a grunt, she adjusted her seat in Dr. Frankenstein’s chair and held her head. She just needed a moment for the pounding to stop.

“ARE WE AWAKE NOW?”

          Oh, dear god who answered him? The question was redundant, she knew exactly who answered his comm request.

“Yup, just give me a moment Simaris.” The Tenno gurgled out.

“AFTER REPEATEDLY DENYING MY REQUESTS TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOU, I WILL NOT GIVE YOU YOUR MOMENT.” Fuckass. “YOU CONTINUOUSLY REFUSED TO HEED MY WARNINGS AND KEPT IN CONTACT WITH A RAPIDLY DEGRADING CEPHALON. NOW THE SENTIENT HUNHOW INHABITS HER MIND AND HER BODY. WE SHOULD SEVER THE WEAVE WITH WHAT WAS ONCE KNOWN AS SUDA AND TERMINATE HER.”

“So, you’re saying you’d rather lose precious information and knowledge rather than help someone out in need?” Korah’s voice rose ever so slightly. “Suda’s our friend! Playing the anthem seemed to help her remember, fight off Hunhow! If I can complete the anthem that could help somehow!”

“THAT IS A RIDICULOUS THOUGHT AND WISHFUL THINKING, HUNTER.” Simaris snapped back. “I KNOW EVEN YOU THINK THAT IS PREPOSTEROUS.”

“Maybe it is, but I’ll never know unless I try!” Her voice continued to rise in volume, almost enveloped with rage.

“YOU WOULD BE WASTING PRECIOUS TIME AND RESOURCES. SUDA IS NO MORE. ACCEPTING THIS TRUTH WILL ONLY MAKE IT EASIER FOR YOUR CEPHALON TO CUT ALL TIES WITH HER SO THAT WE MAY DESTROY WHAT HAS BECOME OF HER.” All signs of formality were gone in Simaris’ voice, he was just as angry at Korah as she was with him. “IF YOU HAD HEEDED MY ADVICE IN THE FIRST PLACE, NONE OF THIS WOULD BE HAPPENING. THIS IS YOUR FAULT, HUNTER.”

          There was a moment of silence between the two, Korah huffing and visibly shaking with anger.

“Simaris. I have three words to respond to that statement.” She growled lowly. “Go fuck yourself.”

          Quick as a wink Korah terminated the connection with Simaris. She had enough of his line of bullshit. Terminate Suda her ass, he wasn’t there with them on Lua. The music did allow her to fight back, to an extent. True it wasn’t much but with the full anthem in hand maybe it would do something that would allow them to fight back. Something, anything! But she could still feel anger, rage, and some panic gripping at the corners of her mind. She needed to calm herself down, she couldn't think straight. Her hands dug into the arm rests of the chair, drawing air in and out, and soon she found herself removing her fingertips from the chair and standing up. Taking more deep breaths, her thoughts became clearer, coherent. Get the final piece, go to Suda-Hunhow, and break his face in until he ran with his tail between his legs. Good plan, great plan!

          …who was she kidding. At this point, Korah knew she was lying to herself. Simaris was right, deep down she knew he was right on several points. Suda was gone, corrupted and taken over by the worst being she knew. Stopping him by quarantining him and purging him and whatever was left of Suda was the only solution. But her stubborn pride refused to let that happen, there had to be a way to save her. Sitting here would not let her achieve those goals. Korah took one last deep breath and shoved herself out of the chair, quickly walking out and back up to the navigation console. There out in front of her was not a view of Earth and Lua, but the Void.

“Pollux, what are we doing here?” She inquired, booting up the navigation hud.

“Operator, forgive me, Simaris said he wanted to talk with you urgently and did not want any interruptions.” Pollux started to ramble, frantic and worried.

“Don’t worry about it, but that doesn’t answer my question.” She interrupted. “Why are we here in the Void?”

“I figured you would go against Simaris’ wishes no matter what, so I followed the final set of coordinates to here.” Pollux explained, pinpointing where the third, and final, Hydralus was.

“You know me too well Poly.” Korah scoffed, a warm smile on her features. “Alright, let's get in there and get this over with.”

          The engines rumbled and the Liset took off at full speed in the void, the teal and white colors blurring as they sought out the final machine. Would it be all worth it, she wondered, would completing the anthem grant her the fairytale ending she wished for? It was clear that Korah had doubts still after her spat with Simaris. She would have to throw it off, for the time being, she would debate with him later when this storm had cleared their heads and they could get back to their peaceful hate-friendship. Off in the distance an abandoned Orokin ship soon came into view, obviously being the object of interest. Not because they were heading in that direction, but because of the…

“Operator, I’m scanning multiple instances of Sentients ahead of us!” Pollux announced, sounding scared.

“What?? How??” Korah fired back.

          They knew the answer, regretfully. Hunhow was using Suda’s power to protect them from the effects the Void had on them. It was enough initiative to hurry the hell up and get there before they could. Korah didn’t need to tell Pollux to take evasive maneuvers when the first few Sentients caught wind of them, but the closer they got the heavier their firepower became. At this rate, they weren’t going to make it there in one piece, unless…

“Hey buddy, get my arch-wing ready!” Korah commanded as she prepared to launch.

“What? No, Operator! You’ll be torn to shreds, you won’t make it there alive if you launch now!” Her Cephalon’s panic was intensified, nearly missing another barrage of attacks.

“Not a request, and I’m not going to fly there, you’re going to fling me!” The Tenno continued, gripping and holding herself steady in the cavity that fit her Warframes.

“But Operator--!”

“Just do it!! Veer off and get to safety once I’m clear!” An explosion shook the entire ship as Pollux choked up. “I’ll be fine, I promise. I’ll fly out and meet you half way when I’m doOOOOOOONE--!!”

          She honestly didn’t expect Pollux to do a one-eighty that quickly, but it was enough momentum to clear her of several Sentients before she felt her arch-wing connect to her Warframe’s back. Now she needed to haul ass like never before, she could already see some Sentients turning their fire on her. It was easy at first, but as more Sentients turned on her she was starting to regret this last second idea. Just as that thought crossed her mind a beam pierced and divided her arch-wing’s right wing in half. Now unbalanced, the Void became a spiraling blur as Korah flew out of control, straight through the window of the Orokin ship. She yelped in shock when gravity kicked in and she plummeted to the floor, flipping a few times before skidding to a solid halt. Well…she had made less graceful entrances. At least she was still alive, and that was what mattered. Nothing seemed to be critically hurt, injured, or broken as the Nova Warframe rose to its feet.

“Buddy, you really came through for me! I owe you one.” She laughed breathlessly, running a hand over her head.

          Not getting a response after a moment had passed made her heart jump.

“Pollux?”

          She let the silence set in, to the point where she heard sparks hit the floor on the other side of the room.

“Pollux??”

“ ** _nUlLiFiEd. YoUr PaThEtIc ExCuSe Of A cEpHaLoN hAs BeEn DeComMiSsIoNeD. yOu WiLl PeRiSh HeRe, TrApPeD aNd AlOnE_**.”

          Her heart fluttered in a panic and she phased out of her Nova, stumbling forward, gasping.

“No…no no no NO NO!!” She whispered in distress, placing her hands on her head in shock.

          He was gone, Pollux was gone, first Suda now her ship’s Cephalon?? The emotion was strung high, she almost wanted to cry, this was all her fault. Simaris was right again. If she hadn’t accepted Suda’s query, if she hadn’t……no, she wasn’t going to let her emotions get a hold of her. She had made it this far, she could still do this. But how was she going to get out of here without being shot to a million pieces? It would have to be something she figured out along the way as she motioned for her Nova to follow, they had an anthem fragment to find.

~ * ~

          The abrupt crash landing had set her way off target, but she was finally back on track and, bonus points, the Hydraulus was right below her. There were indeed a few close calls back there with the swarm of Sentients that chased her like a pack of dogs; yet, it was so satisfying to turn the tables on them and have the ceiling collapse on them. It was a fit of irony, he tried to do it to her, and Korah had returned the favor in full. She had moved back into her Warframe a while ago so she could pull off more complex maneuvers, and stick landings from falling from extreme heights. Like this one just now, as she descended and rolled into the Hydraulus room. Feet carried her swiftly, just in time to seal off the room from any pesky Syndicates getting in. Judging by the loud slamming and humming, they were right on her heels so she had to do this quickly. Just like before, the machine sprung to life as soon as she began punching in notes, and the third time was the easiest. Perhaps she was getting used to playing these Hydrauluses, once she knew once to do it was a doozy to pull off. Yet this time was not the time she was greeted with cheers and encouragement.

 ** _“sTiLl ThInK yOuR tEnNo AnThEm CaN sAvE yOu_**?” Suda-Hunhow’s corrupted voice growled. “ ** _YoU aRe EiThEr StUbBoRn Or StUpId_**.”

“I prefer the word ‘determined’ asswipe.” Korah fired back.

          It wasn’t enough?? Suda said this was the final part, there had to be something she was overlooking, missing. The music had helped her remember, fight back, could it be that she couldn’t hear it? It sounded plausible, perhaps there was a machine around here that could boost the sound. She opened her holo-map and started to perform thorough scans in a fifty-meter radius from her location. To her surprise, there was an amplifier down the hall and in an awkward corner room that looked like it could possibly boost the volume. If that was the case, she was already taking off at full speed, rescinding the lockdown she had put on the room. To get there she would have to fight off more swarms of Sentients, shooting them one by one in their stupid yellow eyes. It wouldn’t do much but it would slow them down long enough to enable their shield protocols, and if they didn’t get them up fast enough they were divided in half as she ran by. Screw taking stairs the normal way, she thought to herself as she jumped down and landed on another Sentient, she was on a mission here. Her Braton erupted loudly as she emptied the clip into its body before finishing it off with a swift strike from her broken War. Bursting through the doors right next to her, she leaped over the edge to punch the amp to life. Slowly, it started to increase the volume of the Hydraulus a few rooms down, she could almost hear it coherently even when she cranked it up to 100%.

“Tenno, I remember…” Hearing Suda’s voice made Korah light up, almost about to cheer even. “ ** _NoThInG. dIe NoW, tEnNo, KnOwInG yOu HaVe fAiLeD_**.”

          Crazy as this was the music was working! If Korah could get that kind of a reaction out of Suda, then she needed more power! A deeper, more thorough scan revealed that a second amp was above her and straightforward. She leaped out of the room and onto the lift, bursting through the crowd of Sentients that swarmed to greet her, but she did not go through them unscathed. Her shield was smashed to zero and pain surged through her gut as she landed, but the adrenaline was enough for her to set the elevator in motion before curling in on herself. That fucking hurt, more than usual. Stupid Hunhow using Suda’s energy to superpower his stupid Sentient drones. At the very least she was thankful that her shields were back up to full before she ran back out and into the fray.

          The second amp was thankfully close to the lift, but god damn why did it have to take so long to get to max power? This wasn’t time for a walk in the park she had Cephalons to save here! The closer those dreadful hums drew closer the more anxious Korah became, she wasn’t going to let them destroy the amp and from saving Suda and Pollux. The moment the first one rounded the corner the machine behind her hit exactly 100%, just like the one downstairs. Talk about perfect timing! As Korah fought off the Sentients who threatened to behead her the room practically shook with the volume of the song. All three parts, now one at last.

“Such a beautiful song—” Suda hummed to herself.

“Suda…” Korah whispered.

          Was that it? Did the song finally get through? No, the signal of lasers in her shoulder and blows against her back was enough to know that Hunhow was still in control of Suda. God fucking dammit!! There was no way in the Void that Korah was going to take on a group of Sentients this big, she had to run. She hated to do so, but living was also crucial if she wanted any chance of survival. But she had to get rid of these Sentients first, she didn’t want a party of them dogging her footsteps while she ran, and she had just the move to finish them all off. Molecular Prime. The Sentients had made their last move by following her in this corridor. With a wave of her hand anti-matter covered the Sentients, and one by one she picked them off as the effects slowly eroded away at their unsuspecting armor. It wasn’t until that she realized her mistake when she noticed Sentients destroying each other. She didn’t think of it much until…until she realized that if the anti-matter implosions reached a high concentration, the ship would…

          …rip apart due to the laws of physics. The gaping maw was so massive it sucked Korah with a shocked noise as well as the remaining Sentients who took advantage of her own mistake. Now she was floating in space, with a damaged arch-wing, she was basically a sitting target. She adjusted herself in the zero-g environment, trying to get a good look at which Sentient wanted a go at her first. She would let them have it, if this was how she died then she wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Korah admitted her mistakes, her flaws, and now, she figured, she was finally paying for them. The Sentients chattered eagerly among one another, and Korah continued to whip around to the highest concentration of said chatter. It seemed that they were going to make their first move when something big dove through the crowd and scattered them. It also sent Korah spiraling again, but mid-flip she saw the body and trails of her own Liset. Confusion clouded her mind, Hunhow said he had captured Pollux, so who was piloting her ship? Unless he had left it on auto-detect-pilot, a subroutine that he enjoyed immensely while he focused on other activities and duties as ship Cephalon. Sure enough, the Liset was coming about and she could see the concave spinning to let her board. As soon as she was in place she was rotated back into the nav deck and the ship took off as fast as it could.

          What Korah didn’t expect was Legolas immediately jumping her upon entry and pinning her to the floor, showering her with kisses.

“Hey, hey, hey! I’m fine!” She laughed, pushing the Kubrow off her, who retaliated with a whine and jumped up to lick her more. “Dude, what has gotten into you??”

          She laughed a bit more, petting his head affectionately before going in for the ear rub. Legolas hadn’t been this way before, did he sense that she was in danger; he might as well have, he wasn’t acting like himself. More importantly, what or who flew the Liset in to save her butt from certain death.

“IF YOU ARE QUITE FINISHED PETTING THE BEAST, MAY WE ADDRESS THE CONUNDRUM AT HAND?”

          Holy. Shit. What the fuck.

“Simaris?” Korah’s voice strained with confusion. “How did, what?”

“THE CATALYST MUST FINISH WHAT THEY HAVE STARTED. YOU WERE THE ONE THAT SENT THESE EVENTS IN MOTION.” Simaris’ voice echoed through the Liset.

“Yeah, no shit Sherlock that’s what I’ve been trying to do you—” Korah bit her tongue and held back those colorful words.

“IF YOU ARE GOING TO CONTINUE TO SPEW SLURS, I WILL RESCIND MY AGREEMENT WITH POLLUX. IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS INFORMATION AND YOU BRINGING ME CREATURES FOR THE SANCTUARY, I WILL BRING YOU INTO SUDA’S DATASCAPE SO THAT YOU MAY STOP HUNHOW.” The Sanctuary Guardian continued.

          So that explained a lot. Pollux had made a deal with Simaris on the sidelines in case shit hit the fan, which is exactly what happened. Already she was not looking forward to Sanctuary work; yet if her Cephalon had to up the ante to get Simaris to comply, she would be willing to suffer through whatever he had in store for her.

“Hold up, question.” Korah held up her hands to interrupt. “What is a datascape?”

“THEY ARE AN ALTERNATE PLANE OF REALITY. OTHER CEPHALONS MIGHT USE THEM TO PROCURE TRAINING EXERCISES, ARCHIVES; ANYTHING THAT IS VIABLE IN REALITY IS VIABLE IN A CEPHALON'S DATASCAPE, THE SANCTUARY IS SUCH A PLACE. TO ENTER SUDA-HUNHOW'S DATASCAPE WILL BE REDUNDANT, WHOEVER FOOLISH OR STUPID ENOUGH TO GO THERE WOULD BE SIGNING THEIR OWN DEATH WARRANT.” He purposely dropped his voice to try to intimidate her. Korah didn’t fall for it, instead taking on a rather unamused look.

          There was a harsh, sarcastic scoff at the Cephalon's words.

“DO NOT TEST MY PATIENCE, HUNTER.” Hissed Simaris. “I HAVE NO TIME FOR YOUR DERISION, NOR TO PLAY SHIP CEPHALON. HUNHOW SEEKS TO DESTROY WHAT I VALUE MOST, AND HE WILL NOT STOP UNTIL HE HAS HAD HIS FILL. PERHAPS CEPHALON SUDA WAS RIGHT AFTER ALL, AS MUCH AS I FIND IT INTOLERABLE TO ADMIT IT. PERHAPS THIS MUSIC ASSISTED THE TENNO IN THE GOLDEN AGE, IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE.”

          Korah wanted to point at the ship’s hull, gloat and boast how, for once, someone else was right and he was wrong. That would only cause Simaris to bitterly leave Korah at the mercy of Hunhow’s Sentients, for the time being, she would have to hold back all nagging rights until this was over.

“Alright, I get it. So how do I get into this datascape?” She placed a balled fist on her hip, pushing them off to one side.

“I AM BRINGING YOU BACK TO THE RHEA RELAY, ONCE YOU HAVE ARRIVED, COME TO ME AND I WILL SEND YOU TO SUDA-HUNHOW'S DATASCAPE.” Simaris paused, then added, “I WILL NOT BE JOINING YOU ONCE YOU ARE IN. THE SANCTUARY IS TOO PRECIOUS TO LOSE, AS GUARDIAN I CANNOT RISK ANNIHILATING MYSELF BY PROVOKING HUNHOW'S WRATH.”

          Korah sighed, in partial annoyance. Of course, he was going to continue to be a self-centered asshole. “You little...gah, just--when I arrive don’t say anything to me. Just send me in.”

“AS YOU WISH, HUNTER. I WILL TRANSMIT YOU AND THE MANDACHORD TO THE WEAVE AND TO WHATEVER HAS BECOME OF SUDA-HUNHOW. GOODBYE.”

          That was the end of that conversation, one that Korah didn’t expect to have today. She was still taken back that Simaris followed up on his end of the bargain. To her, Simaris was not the most compassionate Cephalon, evident when he dropped her at the feet of a very pissy Chroma. It was then that Pollux vowed he would never forgive Simaris for putting her in harm’s way. At least now she had a way to get back at Hunhow for hurting her friends, and boy, was he going to regret messing with the wrong Tenno.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is a small headcanon of mine that, after the events of The Second Dream and The War Within that a "ghost residue" is left behind in a Operator's Warframes. It allows them to move around and fight if need be while their Operator wanders about. It's supported in the finale of TSD, I know one appearance isn't much to go on but I like the idea.


	4. Encore

          There were no words exchanged when Korah’s Nova entered the Sanctuary. It was something she was rather thankful for; any snide remarks she feared would have distracted her and swept her mind away from the task at hand. She had a Sentient to beat into the ground.

          However, being joined to the weave was quite painful, visibly cringing as the invisible force attacked her nervous system. The familiar sight of Simaris and the Relay faded out of existence, her body feeling like it was floating in space. It wasn’t long until her feet felt stable again, red and orange hues illuminating the landscape around her. Swimming blocks were stationary, providing platforms and ledges to leap and grab onto, presumably there to stop oneself from falling into the abyss. Falling off she could only imagine meant falling under Hunhow’s control, no ifs, ands, or butts about it. Great.

“ ** _Another INSECT drawn to my LIGHT,_** ” The Sentient’s voice broke the silence, agitated. “ ** _And you’ve brought your TRITE MUSIC with you TENNO._** ”

          Korah’s eyes narrowed at his jab. Still going on his little monologues, it seemed, he was worse than Simaris. At least the Sanctuary guardian she could handle, she could at least get to mess with him and make him irritated without any severe consequences. Hunhow was a whole other ballgame. She leaped down from her initial platform and ran forward as far as she could, which wasn’t that far. But it was enough for her to get a better look at him. There were no signs of Suda or Pollux, not yet anyway. She was certain that they had to be here somewhere in this demented landscape he had created. Korah was completely caught up with looking for her friends, she did not see the beam of energy sweep through her. A small chunk of her shields was taken out along with her balance, easily recovered though. She watched it zip away in an arc, leaving behind red corrupting pillars and soft glowing yellow orbs. Her mind wondered and committed to the idea as she leaped and landed on a towering platform. Pixels danced around her as the beam of light was wiped out of existence. Touching the yellow one, on the other hand, produced a very familiar music note, one she had seen along her journey. The world around her was littered now with yellow and red. Ridiculous as this may seem, there was only one way to test this theory.

“Alright Hunhow, let’s play this demented game of jump-rope of yours.” Korah hissed under her breath, preparing to take her next jump.

          Even as she did so, the energy beam hit her again and knocked her off her platform, fingers barely holding on as she caught herself.

“ ** _MY MIND, MY RULES. Your Tenno anthem dies here, and with it your INFANTILE consciousness._** ” The overbearing Sentient continued as she hauled herself up to safety.

“Oh, put a sock in it!” She fired back, more agitated now.

          No, that was exactly what Hunhow wanted her to do. Snip back, lose focus, get mad. There was no way in this entire solar system was she going to give him that benefit. But with her firecracker temper outsiders knew that she would struggle, no matter what. Steeling her emotions as best as she could she leapt from her platform to the next. The more she activated the glyphs and stomping out the pillars, it was like she was dealing with computer code. She was dealing with a life-sized cipher, a security check really. A wrong move and she would have to correct herself, a right move and she was rewarded. Moreover, she had to keep track of Hunhow’s jump-rope of fuckery. If only she cleared the jump she could keep on moving, and bonus points, she could time her jumps perfectly as the radius was nice and wide. A couple of jumps later and her vision was blinded white, catching a slight glimpse of the now blue glyphs shooting off like mortar, heading towards Hunhow in the center.

“ ** _What do you HOPE to achieve by doing this TENNO?_** ” The Ancient Sentient hissed. “ ** _You KNOW you have already LOST, the only rational decision is to lay down your arms and SURRENDER._** ”

“And let you kill me as you’ve done with hundreds of other Tenno? Fat chance!”

          At least, that’s what she wanted to say out loud, spit at him, argue back. She kept her thoughts to herself, the sound of expelling antimatter hissing in the air. These platforms were smaller than the others, not by much but it made sticking the landing just a little bit trickier. More notes were being added to the song as she proceeded, soon it became a rhythm, a pattern. Korah was starting to think that this ridiculous theory might be the easiest thing on the planet to shut down an overbearing Sentient.

“ ** _SILENCE gives CONSENT they say._** ” He hummed. “ ** _Suit YOURSELF._** ”

          She had thought too soon, and now she was paying the price, double when she heard those dreadful hums. Of course, he’d try and pull some bullshit maneuver like this. Gritting her teeth, she turned and opened fire to get a few cheeky shots off before they became resistant to her weapons. What she didn’t see coming was how easily it fell, it was only a few second guess later that she hypothesized they were only so weak due to the datascape, and they were only mirages. That was good, but now she had these little annoyances chasing her around like lost puppies. She now had to rebalance her act of clearing and activating notes, playing jump-rope, not falling and now killing Sentient pests. All in the daily work of a Tenno she humorously thought, blasting two Sentients to smithereens as she leaped to the safety of another positive note. That seemed to be the last one, as the red started to dye blue again, the notes getting ready to take off once again.

“Parody error—I know this song.” Suda’s voice broke the music suddenly, causing Korah to straighten up. “Who am I?”

“Suda?? Suda can you hear me??” Korah worriedly called into the datascape.

“Error—agnomen ‘Suda’ is currently in use. Please decide on a different autonym.” Pollux’s voice chimed in next to Suda’s, causing more hope to rise in her.

“Poly!” Her voice rose again as she called out her best friend’s name. “Pollux I need you to fight back against Hunhow!! I know you can do it!”

          The note next to her feet suddenly shot off with the same force of the energy wave sweeping the area, causing her to cry out in surprise and lose her footing, just as the area turned white for a second time. When her vision swam back in she was hanging on the most pitiful excuse of a platform ever. She could feel her feet kicking over empty air, she couldn’t leap up like this, not at this angle. Too much momentum would send her spiraling down into the void, too little and she would be back where she started. Unless she tried to jump for the tower next to her, it would be a tricky jump, but it would be nothing she hadn’t pulled off before. Her feet swung up and braced herself on the underside of the platform she hung on, and without a second thought she pushed and jumped for the tower. She should’ve, however, given a second thought, as the radius was reduced even further, meaning the beam of energy hit her head on, shoving her off course. What was unexpected, as her miscalculation generated panic, was the rough hand that grabbed one of the rings of her Warframe and hauled her back up to safety. As Korah looked to her rescuer she almost braced for a fight with a corrupted, heavy weapon Grineer. Almost, as it began to attack the Sentients that warped into Suda’s datascape.

“CREATURES OF SANCTUARY, HEAR MY CALL!”

          Korah whipped her head around just in time to see Simaris’ icon float on through, circling arena as he observed. He seemed to catch onto her dumbfoundment, as he whipped his all-seeing eye her way.

“DO NOT STAND AROUND GAPING HUNTER! YOU MAY DO SO LATER AT YOUR OWN LEISURE!” He snapped at her. “MOVE!”

          Simaris had gone against his own word, this was one to keep in the books. Korah would no undoubtedly poke fun at him for this, but there were more pressing, important matters at hand. She grinned wide as the Sanctuary Guardian, even though he couldn’t see it, nodded firmly, then took off once more. With the reinforcements of cataloged Grineer and Corpus alike, she could put forth her full concentration to completing this song once and for all. A smaller radius had its bonuses too, the visibility of all the notes that needed to be touched and erased could now be easily picked off. While jumping the beam was more frequent now it was also easier to dodge as well, a quick slide or duck sent it speeding over her and around to make its next pass. It didn’t take very long at all with her newfound help, and soon the final set was sent skywards to Hunhow.

“ ** _You…cannot. I conTrOL tHiS—_** "

          One more wave, what she assumed to be the final wave as all the notes from all three parts took flight, battering and slamming into Hunhow as the area around her visibly glitched and fazed from blue, to red, then blue again as it swept through the area. Suda’s icon hummed there peacefully for a few moments before crying out:

“I am Suda!”

          Those three words caused a wash of relief over Korah as if the exhausted sigh wasn’t enough. A recognizable heptagram floated down, seemingly out of nowhere, and fell into orbit opposite of Simaris. She knew who that was, as soon as he saw her he came speeding towards her.

“Operator, are you alright?!” Pollux’s panicked voice washed over the area. “I could see you fighting but I could nothing, even when you encouraged me to fight Hunhow I was…powerless.”

“It’s alright, you did all that you could do and that’s what matters.” Korah reassured her Cephalon, but she knew very well he would go on one of his downward spirals when they got back on the ship.

“Time sync error. Curious. Why are we here presently?” Suda queried, interrupting their short reunion. “Why do I hear music?”

“A Sentient named Hunhow overrode your systems and possessed you, he tried to erase you from existence.” Korah made sure she was the first to respond before Simaris could say something brash or cruel. She had been through a lot, she needed time to recover.

“A Sentient?” The Cephalon echoed. “How did I survive? Did you assist me, Simaris?”

“OF COURSE NOT!” This time, Mr. Banana Laffy Taffy beat her to the punch. “YOU HAVE NO VALUE TO MY SANCTUARY. THAT IS AND ALWAYS BE THE CASE. IT WAS KORAH WHO ASSISTED YOU. I ONLY ACTED TO PROTECT THE WEAVE.”

“Of course…” Suda seemed to accept Simaris’ explanation.

          But with Korah around, that was not going to stand.

“Wait, hold up.” Korah held up her hands to intervene in the Cephalon’s discussion. “I wouldn’t have made it here if it weren’t for Simaris. My Cephalon Pollux was captured by Hunhow when I was searching for the third piece, to trap me in the Void. Even if he hadn’t, I believe he would be hesitant in joining me to the weave.”

“That is true.” Pollux added in. “I would never think of doing such a thing that would harm my Operator.”

“In short, I would have to rely on Simaris no matter what happened if I wanted to get rid of Hunhow and save you. AND from the way things were going downhill Simaris would’ve swooped in to lend a helping hand anyways.” Korah continued, enjoying the agitated twitches from the Sanctuary Guardian.

“HUNTER, I WOULD PICK YOUR NEXT WORDS WISELY.” Simaris’ voice warned her darkly.

“Hush, Simaris.” Chided Suda. “Korah, where are you going with this? What is your point?”

“My point? I thought I was making it obvious.” Her hands were placed sassily on her hips, keeping an eye on the agitated Cephalon. “What I’m trying to say is, Simaris thinks—”

“ENOUGH.”

          Korah didn’t even get to finish her sentence when that blinding, painful sensation hit her once again, seeming falling through space before landing on her back, hard. When her vision swam back into view, she recognized the room as Suda’s Syndicate room.

“Simaris!” Suda’s voice was hot with anger before turning gentle for Korah. “Korah I am sorry, it seems that he has forcibly removed you from the weave and dropped you here.”

          A loud snort was procured at the news, followed up by laughter. She probably confused her poor Syndicate, but this was too good. Her feet waved around to bring herself up to sit, head tilted back to ‘look’ at Simaris.

“Simaris you ass!!”

~ * ~

          On the plus side, she wasn’t leaving this experience empty-handed. There was some difficulty having Suda drop the topic (Korah wanted her Syndicate to figure it out on her own), but she eventually convinced her to let it go. For all her work and trouble, the Cephalon rewarded her with the Octavia blueprint, the maestro of the Mandachord. While its parts were scattered, gathering them would bring Korah and Pollux on their next adventure.

          …At least, that’s what she had hoped it would mean. Octavia would have to wait for the time being after strung up like a fish out of water Korah was exhausted from worrying so much. Pollux was the one that brought it up as she proceeded to her ship, insisting that she stayed on the Relay a little while longer while he took care of the damage the Sentients had done to the hull and her archwing. She supposed hanging around wouldn’t hurt too much, there were things to do aside from checking in with her Syndicate leaders. For starters, the thought of a particular Corpus led her to his little hole in the wall. It was quiet today, despite what happened seconds ago, an Equinox and a Rhino comparing their inventory muttering to themselves and a Trinity browsing the mods on display.

“Tenno, come in come in! I have many bargains today, so please, take your time and look around.” Darvo’s voice called out behind an Atlas he was helping.

“Clem, clem!” Clem shouted in greeting, waving out to her.

          They were truly something a new Tenno wouldn’t expect to see, a Corpus and a Grineer working together. It was always fun to watch them have a double take moment the first time they wandered into his shop. But the two of them were close friends of hers; when she had first woken up she had saved Darvo from a Grineer gulag. In return, he gave and showed her how to craft the Ascaris Negator to remove the thing Vor had strapped to her leg. Even later on he had contacted her to save one of his best contractors, and boy she did not expect to see a Grineer tumble out of the pod.

“ _Oh, did I forget to mention?_ ” Darvo had said. “ _He’s a Grineer, so please don’t shoot him. Heh, I wasn’t kidding when I said he was my best._ ”

          Good memories, good times. She and Clem made a pretty good team kicking ass and taking names. Yeah, they weren’t perfect, there were times they absolutely screwed things up beyond belief with no chance of bringing it back around. Ok, there was like, that ONE time that they did it by the skin of their teeth. Even if they failed, the ex-Corpus wasn’t mad with them. He would just place his hands on their disappointed heads and encouraged them that they’d get the relic next time. He was right in the end, there was always treasure out there just waiting for open pockets to call home.

          The Atlas brushed shoulders with her as he wished Darvo and Clem farewell before disappearing through the doors. It was now that Korah approached Darvo to talk with him personally.

“Yes, how-ah of course, Korah!” The man beamed at her as she stepped out of her Warframe. “I was starting to wonder if you were going to keep up your end of the bargain.”

“Oh please. Don’t even think of comparing me to Neffy.” Korah laughed. “You got that Tigris Prime part I asked for?”

“Hmm, I don’t know…did you complete that shopping list I gave you a few weeks back?” Darvo mocked, clearly messing with her.

          Flashing a smile Korah brought up Darvo’s ‘order’ on her personal holo device, all hard to get materials and trinkets. She made a little ‘ta-da’ noise to go along with it as she presented it to him. The salesman leaned forward with a hand on his chin, seemingly inspecting the list, then fell back to his original position, shaking his head.

“Nope, not good enough Tenno. I still need those Orokin Reactors.” He stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

“Are you kidding—” Korah was about to whine, but then caught him grinning at her. “Don’t do that to me, I’ve already had enough excitement for one day!”

“Clem?” The Grineer asked with a confused voice.

“What, you haven’t heard? Suda was attacked by Hunhow while we were searching for Octavia’s anthem. I managed to kick him out of her systems, and I would say job well done. But we have no idea where he’s lurking now.” She explained, catching some ears of browsing fellow Tenno.

“He’ll show face again when he wants to, and when he does, you’ll be ready.” Darvo turned and pulled the barrel of a Tigris Prime out in the open. “I won’t sugar coat this Tenno, these weren’t easy to come by. But since you’ve done a huge favor for us, getting these made it worth it.”

“Mhm, clem.” His Grineer friend agreed, booting up his own holo device to accept the items she had fetched for them.

“Don’t mention it, you’re my friends, and besides, I knew that I would be able to pull it off.” She reassured, confirming the transaction.

“Many thanks again friend, let it help you kill many things!” Darvo managed to sneak in a hair ruffle just as she turned to step back into Nova.

“Hey, maybe next time I’m on the relay we can go treasure hunting. I could show off my new Tigris at the same time.” She ‘fixed’ her hair, despite being in the Warframe, it was a knee-jerk reaction. “How’s that sound Clem?”

“Chk-chk, Clem; Grakata.” He sounded eager but had a hint of acknowledgment to it.

          Korah beamed at the smaller Grineer. She really wanted to go right now, but a nap sounded a thousand times better.

“So how have things been for you? Business as normal I’m assuming?” She questioned.

“Actually, there is something that happened while you were away.” Darvo crossed his arms, looking thoughtful. “There was another Tenno that was asking you by name. I didn’t trust them as they were new to the relay; I told them that I hadn’t seen you, but I would spread the word.”

“Huh…you didn’t happen to catch their name, did you?” A figurative eyebrow was raised, evident by her body posture.

“No,” Darvo stated plainly. “As soon as I turned away they were out the door as quickly as they came. Work together you might, but Clem and I don’t trust them yet.”

“I don’t blame you, they sound rather sketchy. I’ll keep my guard up if I ever meet this Tenno.” Korah replied.

          Her mind was now filled with thoughts of who would be looking for her. When she couldn’t think of anyone wanted to have a word with her, she decided to put it on the middle burner for the time being. It was still concerning, anyone would find it worrisome.

“Thanks for telling me this, but I really should hit the road about now. Pollux might have a panic attack if I don’t get a move on.” She half laughed.

“I keep telling you Tenno, you need to replace that inadequate Cephalon. He will only give you anxiety.” The arms dealer joked with a smirk.

“Answer’s always no, Darvo,” Korah called back into the shop as she walked out. “See ya later!”

“Until next time Tenno!” He called after her, just as the doors shifted shut behind her.

          It was always good to see Darvo and Clem, but that one little fact was…interesting. Thinking about it anymore would just give her a headache, she needed to ask around, see if this Tenno asked anyone else. More facts, so to speak. But then again, maybe it was just a weird random encounter where they needed her help or wanted one of her weapons. That was typically the case and boy did she really want this to be the case. Her feet carried her out to the Relay’s hangar where her Liset was docked, presumably Pollux having another fit wondering when his Operator would return so they could get moving again. She scoffed at the thought, but she knew it was true. How a Cephalon worried so much without short-circuiting was beyond her, at least that’s what Darvo had told her, a Cephalon like him would’ve put themselves out of commission a long time ago. He was very lucky to have her as an Operator, to keep him balanced and comfortable.

          It wasn’t long until she was back on board that there was a heavy thud as the ship disengaged from the dock. She watched as the relay began to drift further away as the ship fell in line to blast off into space once more, into the unknown of adventure and mystery. From this distance, the relay was a peaceful place, seemingly sheltered from the worries of the world. To any Tenno supporter seeking solace, it was exactly that place. If she could ever take a break on a relay she would do so in a heartbeat. But she had more important issues to deal with rather than lounge at the pool with a fizzy drink and oversized sunglasses shading her face. The universe wasn’t going to save itself. With a final glance to the station, it disappeared with a flash as she and Pollux sped off into the stars ahead of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Korah loves messing with Simaris, especially if it means calling him out on his liiiies. He clearly does not approve.


	5. Infestation Problems

          It didn’t take long for Pollux to start getting on her case after they left the Relay. At least, that’s what it felt like, she had passed out into a dreamless sleep for who knows how long, her Kubrow using her as a bed. She absentmindedly massaged his ears as he let out a huff, waking up licking loudly before settling down again. These down moments were far and few between it felt, she would certainly use more like these, but there was no rest for the wicked. Especially when said person has a nagging Cephalon when they held still for more than two seconds. She could almost sense his agitation, silently begging her to take the fight to the Corpus or the Grineer as they terrorized the Sol system. Murdering families, kidnapping children, god who knows what else they do, Korah did not want to find out what happened behind the curtain. With her own sigh, her head fell back onto her pillow as she stared at the gray ceiling that stretched above her. Little glow-in-the-dark plastic stars had been stuck on the ceiling, much to Pollux’s displeasure, originally whining how hard it was going to be to remove the tacky and there were more modern methods to create a scene above her head. But something about the simplicity and the times of old, this is what humans used before Earth was run over with vegetation and deserts and icecaps. For such a thing to be so resilient, so hardy after so many events had transpired they were a souvenir worth keeping.

          Here, in the middle of Korah’s internal monologue, Pollux had enough of the silence, speaking up firmly and stern.

“Operator, the system continues to fall into chaos, it needs you.” Her Cephalon insisted.

“Pollux, I partially had my ass served to me on a silver platter running around playing errand girl, give me a moment.” His Operator retorted. “Or two.”

“You have been asleep for over ten solar hours, medical studies state that too much sleep tampers with your circadian rhythm.” He continued. “Please, for my sake, get up and…do that thing you do?”

“How about this? No.” Korah shifted to lay on her side, unwillingly shoving Legolas off of her, and he jumped off to take a stretch and trot off.

“Operator, do I need to contact the Lotus?”

          Oh, so he was moving to the old scare tactic now wasn’t he? When they were still getting to know each other, Pollux would state he would get in contact with Lotus is she decided to shirk work. In return, she would bolt straight up to the nav console and browse the current alerts. Nowadays they had become more distant, occasionally she would get a message in her inbox with items of interest attached that would aid her. They hadn’t gotten into a fight or anything, god no, Korah had her own worries to attend to and Lotus had to keep a lookout for new Tenno waking up. On top of this, she felt she was more and more independent without her. Sure, sometimes there was that rare moment she would watch over her progress, offering cryptic hints of what to do next. Korah could only guess she was doing this to help her become an independent, which she was slowly coming to realize she handled with grace.

          She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, she almost missed Pollux’s follow up.

“Contacting the Lotus now.” He firmly stated.

“Don’t! Fine, I get it I’ll get up. Sheesh…” Korah kicked her feet over the edge of the bed and stood, almost begrudgingly. “You don’t have to get her involved every single time something doesn’t go your way.”

          Yet at the same time, she didn’t want to incur her mother-figures displeasure of staying in bed all day. That had already happened once and there was no need for a second performance. God pity the poor soul who slacked off when a Formorian was about and refused to take part. She had only heard of the Lotus’ temper from word of mouth and rumor, just hearing about it, it sounded pretty bad. Or those who spread that rumor were only doing it to scare the newer Tenno, they were little shits like that. Not to mention she would kick herself in the butt for believing such a ridiculous statement.

          She wandered back out into the main section of the Liset, covering her mouth with her wrist as she yawned. The irritated of Vay Hek could be heard shouting over the comm scanner, beeping as he signed off, the foundry whistled and hissed as it continued to construct her Tigris Prime. Everything seemed normal, quiet, but Korah knew all too well that when things were quiet it meant that some bastard out there amongst the stars was plotting something dastardly. The big wigs of the Corpus and the Grineer tended to do that, always keeping her on her toes and ready for any disaster they might try to throw at them. The Tenno would always be ready though, always were and would be. Even as these thoughts crossed her mind a frown pulled at her lips. She never really asked to be a Tenno, a Void demon as some referred to her and others like her.

“Operator, you are making that face again.”

          Pollux’s voice snapped her out of her internal debate, blinking before scoffing with a soft smile.

“Whatever happened to letting me stew in peace?” She asked jokingly.

“According to my records, you have never stewed in peace.” Her Cephalon replied blandly, effectively killing the joke.

“Jeez, some audience you are…” The Tenno huffed, leaning up against the ship between the foundry and where her Taxon floated in recharge.

“I am an audience of one, you are using the word improperly.” He continued. “Moreover, is there something bothering you, Operator?”

“No? Well, kinda. It’s trivial really.” Korah replied. “I had another dream about Jaxon. I know they’re my memories, but at the same time, they feel…I dunno, distant?”

“Curious. Are you sure that they are truly yours?” Queried Pollux.

“Of course they are!” Korah fired back. “Why else would I be able to remember them?”

“If you insist. But if you continue to question these dream-memories, perhaps your subconsciousness is attempting to warn you.” Pollux pressed. “Like the time you were captured by the Zanuka Hunter, you ignored those warnings. And let’s not forget the time you brushed off those dreams of the Grineer Queens. The Elder Queen nearly burrowed herself into your mind, kicked you out, killed—”

“I get it I should listen to my dreams more often.” She groaned, throwing her head back. “So what if there were two instances, it was only pure luck that they were actually trying to tell me something. Most of the time they’re just nonsense. They’re just dreams, Pollux. Nothing more.”

          Her knees bent as she slumped to the floor, a soft thud audible throughout the ship. Some days she wished she had a less paranoid Cephalon, jumping at the slightest pin drop.

          Please tell her that this wasn’t going to be one of those days. With an irritated noise, she crossed her arms over her knees, lowering her head on top of them. A long bout of silence proceeded again when her Cephalon ‘nudged’ her to attention.

“Um…Operator? I believe you need to see this. This looks serious.” Pollux announced, popping her inbox open right in front of her, her head lifting slightly to look at the screen.

          There, at the top of her list of received messages was one from none other than Alad V. God, that guy never gave up, did he. If this was another thank you letter for ‘applying’ to the Zanuka project, she was going to march down to Jupiter and stomp his stupid face in. But the sudden urgency in the Cephalon’s voice told her a different story, perhaps it was something different. Maybe he was going to try and scoop a sweet information deal like Simmy did with Pollux. Bastard always had his ear to the wall, of course, he would’ve heard about it. Preparing herself to face the smiling douchebag she reached out and opened his message.

          Alad V instantly appeared in a pre-recorded video message, darkness all around, but he was all shades of wrong and fucked up. He looked tired, more demented than usual when he contacted her last. But that didn’t make her insides scream that something was very wrong.

          Maybe it was that large Infested tumor of his that encompassed that collar of his and traveled down his body. Enough of the sarcasm, that was it.

“Greetings to all Tenno of the Origin System!” Purred that salesman voice of his. “It is with great pleasure to announce the birth of a new imperium. No, not of Grineer, nor Corpus or Tenno for that matter. No, I speak of the newest evolution of the Mutalist Empire.” The camera shifted around to display several species of Infected, twitching sporadically. “This new, stronger world will flourish as all others have failed. You have despicably called this strain of survival a disease, an infestation, I call it unanimity. One army under me.” The camera flashed back to Alad, that traditional, sick smile on his face. “Welcome to your new kingdom.”

          The first words that flitted into her mind were something along the lines of ‘ _what the actual fuck_ ’, followed up by ‘ _Alad you have screwed up big time_ ’. To even think he could try and control the Infestation was a death sentence, at least that’s what she always thought. But Alad was conscious and in control. Maybe? Not for long if he truly was, or if he had already lost control then that would mean that was the Infestation speaking through him rather than the jumble of absorbed voices or the screeches. Creepy.

“Can you run a tracing diagnostic Poly? Where did this message come from?” Korah asked in her lets-get-down-to-business voice.

“I’m afraid the message is encrypted indefinitely. If I were to perform such a sequence a new one will take its place.” He reported back. “The best chance of finding Alad V’s whereabouts is to find a Corpus ship and hack their database.”

“Alright, let’s go on a ship raid then and ruin some poor captain’s day.” She pushed herself up to blink into her Somatic Link. A moment later, a Volt stepped out of the arsenal.

“Scanning the airwaves…here, this ship seems to have been tailing Alad before he dropped off their radar.” Pollux stated as her Volt went up and to the nav console.

“Don’t tell me about it just go for it.” Korah responded, looking out to the inky black.

          Something pushed and nuzzled her hand, looking down she found Legolas was by her side, looking up at her hopefully. How could one say no to that face? Scoffing affectionately, she curled her fingers inward to give him a scratch behind the ears before patting his shoulder. He circled around once again before roughly bumping into her knee, putting his weight into her. Alright, she got the message! Looks like she was bringing Legolas along with her, she could use a little backup. Never knew when a distraction could come in handy.

~ * ~

          Getting inside was the easy part, never once in all her missions had she had a problem getting on a ship or a base, whatever. The fact that the security was incredibly tight spelled out how much of a threat Alad posed to the Corpus as much as it posed to everyone else in the system. Korah’s Volt and Legolas had been doing great so far, but now they were at a crossroads. They could either trip all the alarms and risk losing the information, or they could be witty or clever and find another way through this grand open space. To be honest, it looked like there was no other way through aside from running through at top speed. Having Volt with her put her at an advantage against the Corpus true, but she wasn’t stupid to go up against a group this large. Even using Discharge, she wouldn’t be able to get them all. It wasn’t until she spotted another Raksa Kubrow following a Corpus Tech, head held high like the snob it was.

          Seeing that alone gave her an idea, and Legolas apparently caught onto the idea as the two looked at each other in unison.

          The next Tech to pass their hiding location Legolas darted out and after him, mimicking the movements of the one they had seen earlier. Things were going well until a Prod Crewman called out and waved the Tech down before pointing at Legolas. Korah held her breath as the now confused Tech looked left and right, scratching his helmet as he examined her companion for identification. Finding none caused even more confusion among the troops, a small crowd now as they tried to discover the origin of the mysterious appearing Kubrow. Occasionally he would get a pat on the head and a coo as they continued to discuss what to do. When the Prod lowered his baton that was when Legolas took the initiative. He snapped forward and snatched the baton away from him, leaping and bowing down in the ‘play’ position. Oh, you beautiful bastard. Korah never imagined seeing a group of Corpus making kissy noises and clicking their tongues, rubbing their fingers together to try and coax the Kubrow to give it back. She was doing her best not to laugh out loud as Legolas bounded in the other direction as fast as he could.

          There they went, Legolas in the lead and a rather large group of Corpus yelling in a panic trying to catch him. See, the thing with Legolas was when he started running, he never stopped, he was on a mission to get from point A to point B. The distraction was enough to let Korah slip through the room unnoticed and to the terminal she needed. There was a small problem getting into the room, a crewman, whose brains now littered the floor as she hacked the terminal. Over his walkie-talkie she could still hear panicked words of how one of the Kubrows had broken free and was now running around with a shock baton in his mouth. Legolas was clever when he wanted to be, and if he kept the guise up until she was ready to hit the old dusty trail.

          The information she retrieved was not what she was expecting, they weren’t detailed ‘hey here’s Alad’s notes, but rather his research experiments. He had stationed himself on Eris, poking and prodding at the Infested to see what made them tick. At least now she had a starting point of where to stick her nose next. Perhaps the next to terminals would reveal more. Or at least she hoped that they did, no, only more research notes and a more detailed look at where these Infested Hives were located. The thought of slowing his progress and destroying these Hives flitted across her mind, it was what Lotus would’ve asked of her anyways. She could already hear her voice at the back of her mind to find them and eliminate them. The final data slug she extracted was by far the intriguing one out of the lot, inconspicuous but it drew her attention. It looked as if he were fighting the Infestation, but over time he slowly lost himself, and eventually his mind. He was no longer himself.

With the information she needed Korah packed up and ran to do one last thing. She eventually found Legolas in a circle of Corpus, trying to grab the baton out of his mouth. The two made eye contact and the Kubrow broke out of the circle, running straight to his master. The Corpus turned to see the Tenno that had been slipping under their security this entire time; those without helmets she watched the color drain from their face. They had all been played like a fool. Korah retrieved the baton before looking back at the Corpus crowd as they drew their weapons.

“Legolas, kill.”

          Those two words sent the happy Kubrow down low, growling and snarling before diving back into the fray, his Tenno master not far behind as she drew her Tigris.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was hoping to upload this on October 31st, but midterms kinda screwed me over so this chapter got delayed. Nevertheless I'm still writing and we're getting closer to introducing a new character, stay tuned!


	6. True Intentions

          Getting in and grabbing what they needed, that was much easier than what she was doing right now. She would prefer to do more sneaking around and stealing data, not running for her damn life at the moment from a horde of Parasitic Ancients. Her Kubrow had ran away, not of fear but to protect his owner, that was the problem with Raksas, they were so damn protective. Korah knew Legolas well thankfully, she knew he would be able to find her again, bugger always did. The Oberon she controlled landed gracefully on an outcropping of twisted metal and growing flesh, above the swarm that slowly grew interested in her. Reloading her Lex she balanced her shooting arm across her other forearm before taking aim. Infested blood was splattered across the abandoned ship’s floor, a dark crimson, almost black. She fired a few more shots before that dread sunk into her once again. One of the Ancients had wrapped its elongated arms around her neck and slammed her down to the floor.

          Dazed for a moment, it gave the Infested crowd plenty of time to swarm about her; screeching, clawing, biting away at her Warframe whittling away at her now limited shields. Those hits she could feel intensify with anticipation to rip through flesh and pain, even as she opened fire upon the crowd it felt as if three more took the other’s place. The armor stood strong, even as a Volatile Runner blew up right in her face, staggering her once more. Despite trying to save her energy she swiftly swung her arm outward, the ground beneath her blossoming to life with plants and flora. The Infested stumbled back in surprise in the counter, and Korah leapt away to safety down the hall and around the corner.

          There at the end of the hall, she could spy what she was here for. An Infested Hive, Alad V had been incorporating these into his work, this was the sixth one she had come across so far. Much like the Infested from before, when she thought she was done Pollux had picked up another ship from the encrypted logs pinpointing another mothership if one would call it that. And if her eyes didn’t deceive her, that was Legolas on top of it, clawing and scratching and attempting to rip it apart with his teeth. She would admit it, sometimes he wasn’t the brightest bulb in the shed. There were three visible tumors nearby, very much so like security drones, the ‘shields’ would not drop until they were destroyed first. Only a couple of shots from her Tigris made short work of them, but the ringing sound of shells drew more Infested to the area. Of course.

          With a low growl, Korah leaped out of the zone of their teeth, acid, and claws, firing behind her all the while. She made some hits, but not all of them were trending towards the positive.

“You don’t have to do this Tenno, you can still redeem yourself.” Alad purred, his sudden voice in her comms making her flinch. “All you have to do is surrender, give in to your true nature. Then, and only then, will the guiding light show you the way. With this light, you will help others realize their faults. What do you say, Tenno? Are you in, as you would put it?”

          She had nothing to say to him, she had given up with reasoning with him on the first ship she boarded. Pollux had also confirmed that the being speaking to her, and the being in the transmission, was in fact not Alad V. The Infestation had burrowed deep into his mind and consciousness, effectively taking over his body. There were times that Korah wished that Alad V would meet some horrid fate by the hands of the Grineer or, even better, by his own peers. But this, nobody deserved this, not even Corpus scumbags. Killing him would put him out of his misery, for Korah, it was the right thing to do, to keep him suffering from his mistakes.

“Come come now, Tenno. You know the silence doesn’t—ghhh—suit you. You have always come up with some witty remark right about now.” ‘Alad V’ pressed on as she ripped apart the final tumor with the shotgun. “What’s the matter, Kavat got your tongue?”

“I have nothing to say to you.” Despite retorting to him, Korah wanted to let him know exactly why she refused to interact with him. “You’re not Alad, even though you insist that you are. Whatever you’ve done to him has killed him”

“Hehehehe… you’re brighter than I originally anticipated. Smart girl.” Ugh. Hearing it use Alad’s voice to praise almost made her want to gag. But it repeated information she already knew as if she didn’t need reassurance. “Still, this is what—ah—I would have wanted. I was striving towards perfecting this flesh made right. This flesh that will soon be yours. Perhaps you need a gentle nudge to change your mind. Hm? How does that sound Tenno?”

          Her silent no resounded around the area as she destroyed tumors two and three, doing another sweep of the area to sink in that the hive was still closed to attack. She ran to the lower decks, whistling for Legolas to follow her. The loyal pooch followed obediently, following her down into the dark hallway until they came across the final tumors.

“Please, Tenno, you’ve resorted me to begging now. Give up in the name of evolution.” His voice strained across the comms as she blasted the fourth one into orange mist, Legolas going to town on the fifth tumor as if it were a giant tug-o-war toy. He ended up stumbling backward after Korah sliced clean through.

“How about this, take the destruction of your little project my answer.” She gritted her voice through her teeth, running away from the newcomers as they spilled into the room.

“Hmm, shame really. You Tenno always have to do it the—hhh—hard way.” A trickle of sarcasm was in his voice.

          The large Hive in front of her pulsed in agony as tooth, claw, and bullet ripped through its unnatural flesh, occasionally the pain would halt for Korah to clear the swarming Infested that threatened to choke them out. They had plenty of room to maneuver around to play ring-around-the-rosie but the sooner this thing was nothing but a pile of imploded Infested flesh twitching on the floor she would be more than happy to beeline it for the exit with her Kubrow in tow. Even as the orange cloud floated up towards the ceiling with a resounding ‘pop’ something else flew out of the now creviced cavity. Legolas darted out and caught it in his mouth, readjusting his grip on it before watching his master run past him. Confused as to why she didn’t see the object clearly fly out he took after her, dodging in and out between the monstrosities before the familiar shape of the Liset came into view. It slid open for him to leap on board, Korah gracefully following suit before the ship took off into space, the Void masking expeditiously protecting them.

          Korah slumped against the Codex panel, partially in relief partially in the other emotions and feeling that racked her mind and body. She knew very well that the questions she had on her mind would either be half-answered or not answered at all. The soft click-clack of Legolas’ claws tapping against the metal floor approached, soon a heavy weight placed on her chest with a muffled woof. It was only then that she saw the glowing device in his mouth, holding out her palm for him to deposit it into. A puzzled look crossed her face, turning it over as she examined it.

“Hey, isn’t this a—” She started.

“A micro-heliograph, yes. Give it to me and I will decrypt it.” Pollux interrupted, taking a pause as she inserted the device into the waiting orifice. “Operator, this is an S.O.S call from a Mantis, it is not very old, and recent scans reveal that the ship is indeed still in the area. However, I’m not detecting any sign of crew.”

“Just from the Mantis alone?” Korah asked, bringing up a more detailed view of the report.

“It appears to be that way.” Her Cephalon responded.

“So, what are you waiting for?” The Tenno huffed, closing the logs. “Contact their Cephalon and ask them if they still need help.”

“I’m…afraid that they are non-responsive.” Pollux reported quietly. “I say that we inform the Lotus that we’ve lost a Tenno and—”

“Pollux, I’m not going to take the baby chicken route.” Korah pushed herself off the console, crossing her arms. “Set course for the Mantis, I’m going to board and see if I can revive the Cephalon.”

“Operator, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Worry crept into Pollux’s voice. “What if it’s a trap?”

Korah grinned behind her Warframe, the ‘eyes’ turning to little slits. “You forget that I am no pushover.”

~ * ~

          Low power, emergency lighting, flashlight on. This was all too familiar to the Steel Meridian galleon Korah had boarded months back, at least this time she was not dealing with maddened Red Veil cultists and the ship was much smaller. Her hands gripped and yanked the emergency release to drop the ramp from the nav console to the main cabin of the ship. The sudden noise woke up something napping on the incubator pad. Korah’s first instinct was to draw her Lex and aim, finger hovering over the trigger as it opened its…mouth? She figured it was its mouth, as it split into four pieces as it made a yawning sound, she wasn’t quite sure. It was an animal of some kind, gold and black in coloration, but the tendrils that sprouted from its body, a missing paw, and glowing light amber abscess screamed Infestation. The thing stared it down, lowering its body with a defensive growl, the noise familiar and unfamiliar, a mix between Infestation and Kubrow. A crazy thought crossed her mind, and despite imagining Pollux’s protests not to she decided to take the risk.

“Easy, eaaaaasy…” She said quietly as she slowly pulled her Lex upwards to the ceiling. “It’s okay, I’m here to help.”

          The thing continued to growl, taking a few steps toward her, keeping on the defensive. Korah started to back up the ramp from where she came until she was back up to where she started. It was only then that the growls silenced, and she heard it moving back to its napping place. Alright, time for a different approach, a dangerous one at that. She exited her Warframe, the Oberon staring at her what she assumed was surprise. It tried to stop her, desperately trying to hug her back inside for protection, but Korah shoved him off and pushed a digit up against her lips. Turning back towards the ramp the Void that had corrupted her clouded her, making her invisible to any sensors and any prying eyes.

          Her feet tiptoed across the metal in the almost dark ship, her eyes squinting trying to adapt to the low lighting. Everything was going well when she crossed in front of the beast, it’s head instantly jerking up towards her direction. Snuffling it stood as Korah froze, holding her breath as it approached her. Hot foul breath brushed her face as it sniffed around, not moving from its position as it investigated this new thing. After a moment of agony begging for oxygen, it leaned forward and licked her cheek. Korah exhaled in shock, stumbling backward and breaking her illusion at the same time. The beast immediately went berserk, and not in the way she expected it to.

          It wiggled its tail (at least she thought that was its tail) a million miles per hour as it lunged forward, attacking her face with kisses. The smell was positively horrid and yet…it was cute at the same time?

Korah blew a raspberry, placing her hands against its chest and gently pushed. “Hey, hey!! Down boy! Girl? Whatever you might be, you need to take a chill pill, I get the message! You like me better this way.”

          A few attempts later she managed to convince the beast to settle down, sitting in front of her panting excitedly. Finally. She was thankful that it had finally backed off, meaning now that she could get back to the business end of this visit. Easier said than done, as she headed down further into the bowels of the ship the creature followed her.

“Nooo, stay.” She instructed as she turned and pressed on its nose. “I have all the help I can get.”

          The creature huffed, cocking its head at her before trailing behind her once again as she approached the Cephalon core room. She wanted to push it back all the way to the Incubator and lock it in the dome; but, with low power and an unresponsive Cephalon meant rebooting the ship. One aggravated sigh later she shook her head and pulled the emergency release to crack the door open. Her eyes struggled to focus, flicking on the flashlight she had packed along for the journey. The glass, ring-shaped structure in the middle of the room was this ship’s Cephalon, the heart, and life of any Tenno ship. Seeing it so deprived and neglected of power only encouraged Korah more to get to work on reviving it. She swiped the panel before the core, tapping the holographic keys and ejecting the massive power cell, the thing clunking to the floor. The chute on the far side of the wall hissed and opened, revealing one of three emergency cells, which Korah picked up and hobbled over to the other side of the room, shoving it into the awaiting cavity.

          Lights gently flickered on as some power was restored, but the console was awaiting the final commands to take this show to town. The only reason why she knew which commands to input was due to Pollux’s insistence of going over the codes five hundred times before she jumped on over. Annoying, but as the confirm key was jabbed sparks flew as the chamber burst to life and blinding light. Gritting her teeth, she turned and fled the room, letting it shutter closed behind her.

“…in-in-in-initiating recovery sequence.” A masculine voice glitched to life, Korah looking around the ship as she was now able to see where was what. Not much a difference from her own ship aside from a few cosmetics and the location of some segments. “Data prior to power-restriction mode intact. Systems deprived of power in acceptable status. Somatic Link quarters still supporting life support for the…Tenno? Error: two Tenno were not present at the time of power-restriction, identify yourself intruder or face expulsion and imminent death.”

“Hey, I just rebooted your systems, so you better be thanking me, not threatening to kill me.” Korah hissed, crossing her arms. “If you’re going to be hostile towards me, then I’ll just be on my way then.”

“You…rebooted me?” The masculine voice continued. “Then…my S.O.S wasn’t for naught after all! Thank the stars!” There was a pause as the speaker revealed their icon: a light gray octagon with a smaller plum octagon on the inside, four small white diamonds closer to the dips of each point and four larger black diamonds closer to the tips. “Forgive my hostile intentions, I did not imagine that our call would be answered after weeks of silence. I am Castor, ship Cephalon of the Mantis called Resilience. Pray tell, what is your name, Tenno?”

“Name’s Korah. My Cephalon Pollux was the one who decrypted your heliograph.” As she spoke of him the nervous amber colored heptagram phased into existence next to her. “So, Castor, do you have everything under control or do you still need assistance?”

“Alas, I do Operator Korah.” His words tumbled out apologetically. “Perhaps an explanation is to plead for your help. Please, follow me to the kitchen, I will start hot water for a beverage. Would you prefer tea or coffee?”

          The Cephalon floated off, humming to himself before his hologram-self vanished. Korah and Pollux exchanged a glance to one another before the Tenno shrugged her shoulders, following with her Cephalon, appearing nervous, disappeared as he deactivated his visual representation.

~ * ~

          As it turned out, Castor’s request was a simple but confusing one. The backstory didn’t give much information either, despite explaining what he and his Operator were doing so far out in the Sol system. They had been quietly following Alad for weeks, destroying a lab here, stealing data there when they found out about his little Infestation project. They had tried to stop him before it was too late; the current situation was enough to say that they weren’t successful. Worse, his Operator had appeared in the flesh on Alad’s main ship for his project; as soon as they had appeared, both the Operator and their Mesa Warframe, nicknamed Belle Starr, had gone dark.

          Castor had insisted that Korah take his Operator’s Helminth Charged named Blister in hopes that it would be able to track them down. It could’ve gone better, to say the least, as soon they arrived it ignored Korah completely, running off to roll in a festering pile of sliced Charger guts. An aggravated sigh escaped from her lips, what a useless companion, so much for that idea too. Not that she was going to let it bother her much, she was used to doing missions alone. Darvo had joked at one point that her charming attitude was the selling point of keeping teammates around for more than one mission. She didn’t find it that funny.

          Entering the next room Korah slid across the floor, skillfully swinging her Orthos Prime this way and that, Infected screams and blood littering the already disgusting floor. Ugh, fighting Infected would never get old, as soon as she found this Operator and their Warframe the sooner they all could get the hell out of here. Time for screwing around and eviscerating these creatures cut short, as the battle cry of a Juggernaut thundered in the distance. Ripping her melee weapon from the new cavity in the Leaper that had tried to tackle her, Korah put it in double time, soaring to the upper catwalks and running down the nearest hallway.

“You’re getting near Korah,” Castor pinged her as shots rang out from her Braton, “Keep an eye out for anything suspicious or out of the normal.”

“So I’m looking for a jackalope, got it.” She replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

“Korah!” Pollux intervened. “Cephalon Castor, I apologize. My Operator can be quite…hasty with her words when she knows what she is supposed to do.”

“No need to apologize Cephalon Pollux, I am quite aware of the usage of acerbic phrases.” The first Cephalon said coolly.

“Hey, ladies, cut the tea room chatter, I can see something.” Her eyes squinted in the low light as she tried to figure out what she was looking at.

“Pardon Operator,” Pollux’s voice seemed quiet, off, “cou-ld you re---at la---?”

“Poly, you broke up there.” Silence. “Pollux? You there? Castor?” Once again, nothing.

          Joy, a comm. disruptor, just what she needed for this exploration. In a fit of annoyance, Korah flicked off her comm. in the case it suddenly burst to life with sound and screeching. But that, THING, in front of her, it looked like something she recognized but she needed a closer look to confirm. A quick scan revealed an opening just wide enough for her scrawny little body to squeeze through. Her true body. She did not like where this was going but if she were to get answers she would have to follow through. Exiting her Oberon, she patted him twice on the arm before turning and climbing through the space. It was incredibly bright, despite the dreary lighting throughout the rest of the ship.

          Now in the room, she was able to tell exactly what it was. It was a reservoir, much like the one she had spent ages sleeping in on Lua. Only except, this one seemed to be recent, cleaner, more…modern? No, this wasn’t one of the pods Margulis had laid her to rest in, this was a mock-up. The fact that it was so perfect in every way was disturbing.

          A resounding thud behind her sent a chill of dread up her spine as she backed away from the fake. She had been completely enraptured that she didn’t bother with her surroundings. Snapping around she looked up at a Mesa Warframe and was about to breathe a sigh of relief before noticing a particular collar around its neck. An infected collar very much so like the one Alad V had been wearing in his video message. She didn’t have enough time to utter a curse word as the Warframe reeled back its Boar and smacked the butt into her forehead. The force of the blow knocked Korah off her feet, dazed but awake. With bleary eyes, she caught a brief glance of the Mesa raising her foot above her head, and all lights went out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well shit. A+ on those observing skills Korah well done. Castor, in case those are wondering, is only the beginning of new characters. -Sark in the distance- Dramatic!


	7. Where Paths Merge

_The red hazy room faded in and out as it swam back into view, ears ringing in an annoying high-pitched tone. Groaning in pain Korah forced her hand up to cradle her forehead, droopy eyelids trying to stay open as she gained a better outlook of where she was. It didn’t take long to realize that she was on one of the beds in the little safe room the children had improvised. She could hear glass clinking against one another as objects were moved around, occasionally a sniffle was heard. The last thing she had remembered was cabling snaring around her neck, cutting off her oxygen supply. A hand was placed against her neck as she sat up, finding nothing there. Well, except from a sudden jolt of pain from where they once were, it was nothing, but it did make her hiss slightly. The rattling noises stopped when she voiced her displeasure, followed up by footsteps to show the leader of the group, Hadar, in the doorway with an armful of medicines, bandages, the sort._

_Hadar was a stout, round boy, taller than she by a few inches, shaven blonde hair and pale skin, dark brown eyes, a dark grey and silver blue suit with metallic sky-blue lining._

_“You’re awake!” Hadar huffed, stepping forward to be at her side. “How are **you** feeling after almost dying?”_

_“Like shit.” Korah admitted, looking around puzzled._

_“You better!” Came that oh so familiar huff from him. “Running ahead blindly like that, you of all people should’ve known better. You’re an idiot for being so reckless!”_

_“Alright I get it what I did was stupid!” Korah fired back, feeling tears aching to form._

_“Well, despite your mishap, you’re lucky I wasn’t alone for long, I don’t think I would’ve been able to pull you up single-handedly.” Hadar crossed his arms. “To put it plainly, your group managed to get what we needed and made it back half way. That’s when Doc attacked, from what I was told, it was horrible, he split Vin’s belly open with a bone saw and dragged his entrails out onto the floor. They had all panicked and took off running, Jaxon had you on his back, so he had beelined for the elevator. Ranger and Bali were right behind him but Bali got grabbed the moment the doors started to close. They had tried to pull her back, but she was crushed between the ceiling and the elevator floor.”_

_Korah pulled a face, that of disgust and horror. She couldn’t help but feel guilty of her actions and her rash decision making. But there was also rage, just because she had messed up didn’t mean everything was her fault. It was just pure accident that they crossed paths!_

_“That isn’t the worst part,” Hadar hissed, his face screwing up in anger, “Four more died and another is on their death bed! The team could’ve used you as a flagship to fight back, but no, you had to go and choke yourself!! Consider yourself lucky that you didn’t receive any severe injuries, I would’ve left you for dead like the lazy, no-good, ass dragging—!!"_

_Korah had heard enough. In a blur of color she had jumped to her feet and slammed her hand around Hadar’s neck. He made a noise of surprise, stumbling backwards and falling on his ass. Brown eyes flew wide when bright white energy filled Korah’s raised palm, a snarl spread across her face as it twisted in rage._

_“Finish that thought, I fucking dare you.” She hissed out, her eyes locked with his._

_There was a moment of silence as Hadar considered his options carefully, Korah inches away from blasting a beam of raw energy through his pompous skull. Their scuffle was interrupted, however, as the doors audibly shifted open and footsteps stopped._

_“Korah!!”_

_Those footsteps picked up in volume again and arms wrapped around hers before frantically dragging her off Hadar. The ebony skinned child struggled for a moment, breaking free of which she soon realized was Jaxon and a more conscious and stable Harper. Hadar before them conducted himself, dusting himself as he caught his breath. After a moment had passed he glowered at Korah, jabbing a finger at her._

_“Be glad I’m showing you mercy for now. Next time I might not do so.” Hadar hissed before shoving through her group and leaving._

_Another moment passed to let Korah get a hold of her temper before Jaxon spoke. “What did he do?”_

_“He was trying to shift the blame of what happened down below onto me.” Korah responded, fury still in her voice, but restrained. “I know, he’s an ass.”_

_“Agreed.” Jaxon nodded and crossed his arms._

_“But enough about Sir-Assbutt,” Korah turned to Harper and tried her darndest to sound concerned. “Harper, are you...?”_

_“Fit as a fiddle!” She offered her friend a wide grin. “Despite what happened, I’m thankful for you and Jaxon to delving below and getting me bandages and salves.”_

_Harper was lighter in skin tone compared to Korah, but not as light as Jaxon was. She, too had pitch black hair but had three stripes dyed a bright pink, clashing with her sharp hazel eyes, magenta-white, metallic black lined suit._

_“I’m really glad to hear that, really I am.” Korah could finally let herself breath for once. Her friend was going to live._

_“Aw, were you concerned about me?” Harper walked over to Korah, hip-bumping her in a playful way._

_“Only a little bit. I know you’re a tough cookie.” The ebony girl scoffed, meeting her bump halfway._

_“Oh really?” Jaxon piped up at the friendly banter. “Then who was bawling their eyes out over them for a good hour?”_

_“You cried for me? That’s so sweet of you!” Harper flung her arms around Korah’s neck, letting her weight start to pull them back down to the floor. All the while Korah desperately tried to keep her balance as well as keeping them both standing. “Shh, it’s okay little one you don’t need to shed a tear about me anymore~.”_

_“Jaxon you traitor!” The red-haired girl hissed, giggling as they balance danced around the room. “You weren’t supposed to tell her!”_

_“Whoops.” He grinned devilishly._

_“Whoops?! Oh, when I get free you better run!” The stumbling darker skinned girl squirmed, trying to get at the black-haired boy._

_A yelp escaped Korah’s mouth when she found herself lifted off the ground by Harper, soon after, laughter filled the room. It was rather bittersweet, the first real happy moment she had in a while and she was relishing in it. Despite the falling out earlier, this made up for it and the mistake she had made earlier. It made her realize that not everything is always perfect, there’s always going to be a flaw, and one might as well enjoy the perfect moments in between the horrible and the neutral. After dancing around the makeshift bedroom Harper set Korah down and promptly received a smack upside the head._

_“You know I don’t like being held.” Korah joked._

_“Then why were you laughing?” Harper queried, a smirk and a raised eyebrow fired in her direction._

_“…you saw nothing.”_

_Jaxon and Harper broke out laughing again, Korah silently laughing to herself. “You’re both assholes.” Korah said in a deadpan tone. “But you’re my assholes.”_

_“Damn straight we are.” Jaxon retorted._

_Quietly Jaxon motioned for the two girls to follow with his shit eating grin, he himself turning to step out into the ‘living room’. She wasn’t in the mood to rejoin the others, having a bout of solitude and wanting to bring her friend up on the latest news. They hadn’t spoken for a while for obvious reasons, and seeing her back up on her feet made her feel even more better. She got her wish when her friend reached out and gently touched her shoulder, squeezing it slightly._

_“Hey, Korah.” Harper spoke up again, sounding indifferent. “Could I have a moment?”_

_“Sure, what’s up?” Korah answered nonchalantly, offering a curious eye._

_“Look. There’s something that’s been on my mind now, and it’s about you and Jaxon.” Her tone turned serious, her eyes flicking to where he had gone. “Before my accident, before all of…this, I had noticed how you had been looking at him.”_

_“What…oh.” Korah offered her an awkward smile. “You know I like him?”_

_“Yeah, kinda, it’s obvious really.” Harper giggled, a smile on her face as she looked back. “I actually wanted to tell you that I--”_

_Harper didn’t get to finish her sentence as a shrill scream pierced the air. All sense of girl talk ceased as Harper and Korah burst onto the scene, and they wished that they hadn’t. Tall blood-soaked strangers whipped around the room as they chased down the other children with makeshift and brutal weapons. Raw energy quickly erupted this way and that in a desperate attempt in defending themselves, it was chaos. Korah whipped her head around, scanning frantically for Jaxon and jumped when a dismembered torso was thrown against the wall near her. The girl’s blue eyes wavered in shock, her dark brown hair disheveled as she desperately clawed for Korah’s feet. Her twitching was stopped by a hollow pipe in the head, golden eyes following up to the smiling lacerated face of one whose sanity was long gone._

~ * ~

“Come on you lazy ass, wake up.”

          A sharp kick in her side sent enough pain to cause Korah to flinch in reaction, curling up into a ball on the hard metal floor. Hissing to herself she pushed herself up from the ground, running her hand over where the Mesa had done her head in. She was rather displeased to find that her forehead was ripped open from the rough treatment, nothing too bad but now she would have to put stitches into her own head. Fun. But what had distracted her from her thoughts was the stranger that took up the corner of the room, crossing their arms and glowering at her.

          They wore the koppra suit with the manduka sleeves, greaves, and helmet, silver as the base color, teal as the secondary, and bronze as the metallic lining. Their hood currently covered their face, which humbly shook back and forth as they pushed off.

“Glad to see that you’ve finally decided to join the land of the living,” They hissed, “and congratulations to getting your ass handed to yourself.”

“Hey!” That alone was enough to set her in a right mood. “I’m doing the best that I can!”

“Obviously you’re not doing it well enough,” The stranger got right up in her face, mere inches away. “If you were on you’re a-game, you wouldn’t have been ambushed by my Mesa.”

“And if you hadn’t been so ignorant to let yourself get captured, we wouldn’t be in this situation!” Korah clenched her teeth, pressing her nose against the tip of their hood.

          The stranger jerked away, turning away to face the wall, seemingly ignoring Korah before reaching up to take off their hood. Their skin tone was not a light tan, but not dark enough to be brown. Black hair was cut at an angle, the left side being shaven to ear length while presumably down the middle of the back of her head, it slowly grew to almost elbow length. Looking closer she could see violet hair dyed underneath, void scarring etched into their skin and traveling down their back; her ears themselves decorated with diamond-shaped pieces that would make Baro jealous. After a silence they turned back towards the infuriated Korah, sharp hazel eyes glared at her, their mouth pressed into a thin line, scowling. Korah recognized who she was talking to now, to the point words lost her, staring dazed at an old friend before awkwardly looking away to try to distract herself

“At least you recognize me.” Harper sighed. “But don't feel bad for lashing out at me. We’re on tense ground here and we’re up next for the dissection table.”

“Then we gotta get outta here and get our Warframes back!” Korah insisted, heading towards the cell doors.

“It ain’t gonna be that easy friend-o.” Harper followed up behind, something clicking as she messed with it. “Even if we extract, we’ve become Alad’s obsession and he’ll hunt us down till the both of us are dead.” A pause. “I suggest you stay away from the doors.”

“What do you mean?” Korah turned to and looked at Harper puzzled. There was something earth red and cream colored strapped to her right arm, blue energy glowing from it.

“You don’t know what this is don’t you?” Harper announced Korah’s unasked question, sighing. “You haven’t met--? Nevermind, I'll introduce him to you when we have a moment.”

“Who?” Korah started, but was unable to finish when an amplified blast of Void energy shattered the doors open right next to her.

Harper stormed past her, tone bland. “We can’t waste time, c’mon.”

          Korah had to grab herself together before running after Harper, not wanting to lose her childhood friend once again. What the hell was going on here, first she was having literal childhood memories come back in her dreams, and now one of her friends was standing right in front of her. On one hand, this felt way too convenient, too real for this to be happening. As if she was being lured to her death and she was a lamb for the slaughter. On the other she wished that this was really happening and that the two of them were together once again. They had been separated during the war, put into different squadrons and sent to different corners of the universe where help was needed most. They had all promised to keep in touch with on another, give weekly updates and the sort, call each other if they had the time and didn’t have to worry about the transmission being traced or interrupted.

          Then those weekly updates became bi-weekly, then it became monthly, and then nothing. Occasionally she would get a message from them and other children from the ship wishing her well and praying for her safety, in return she would send a quick message back. But she hardly heard anything from Jaxon or Harper. For the longest time ever Korah thought that they had died, and had soon convinced her as such. Perhaps she was wrong to jump to such conclusions, perhaps she should’ve checked in with Lotus and asked her about them. It was all in the past now, and all Korah could hope as they leapt down from the balcony that Harper could forgive her. She hadn’t said much after literally kicking their prison cell doors in.

          Which was curious, a loud disturbance such as that should’ve tripped off the alarms, caused a swarm of infested to be mutilating them, anything! It seemed that the unnatural situation was Harper’s concern as well as more caution was thrown into her movements as they slipped through the Infested Corpus ship. A moment of camera destroying later Harper thrust an arm in Korah’s path and pointed to a large door down below.

“There.” She whispered. “Through those doors should be our Warframes, I’ve been using Transference pings to track Mesa down That, or a shitton of infested.”

“Can you be certain of your hypothesis?”

          The sound of Alad’s sick smooth voice brought the girls to attention and had them both scanning around the room before they felt the base of their collars gripped and flung backwards to the middle of the room. Korah scrambled to her feet as Harper expertly did a flip to get her back to her own toes, the two beings standing in their way were Harper’s Mesa and Korah’s own Nova, both shackled with Alad’s infested collar.

“Heh, you Tenno, always so obvious.” He chuckled over the ship intercoms, “How ironic that your own undoing will be by your Warframe’s hands. Kill them, make sure there is nothing to bury.”

          Harper dove to the side, taking Korah with her as the Mesa opened fire, the Nova directing a ball of antimatter right after them, causing the girls to flee up the staircase. Fighting their own Warframes, could their day get any more worse? Apparently, the laws of fate had heard their thoughts, as soon Infected enemies started to swarm into the room. With a loud groan Korah raised her palm and fired upon the Chargers and Runners, killing a couple before knocking back a few more with a Void Blast. Harper had Korah’s back, doing similar but more efficiently and expeditiously until she had cleared them a path they could run to before the meleeing Warframes could descend upon them. Looking back revealed that the collars hadn’t fully taken root in the girl’s frames, as the Infected had turned on them for a small brawl.

          Seeing this as a distraction Harper placed her hand to her mouth and let out a loud wolf whistle. It seemingly did nothing, aside from the null stars flying around and eliminating the few remaining Leapers lingering around.

“What are you trying to do, get us both killed?!” A high strung Korah demanded, partially sarcastic. “Or are you trying to woo them?”

          Her outburst was not needed, as a growling and super pissed off Helminth Charger burst out of the ventilation system almost moments later, snarling and tackling the Nova down a level in which it pursued. So that was a thing, and Korah was buying it, running towards the railing to assist with Nova. She would be a real cookie to take down. With Nova out of the temporary picture Harper could solely focus on getting her Mesa back. The two of them stared each other down, like an old western movie show down; Harper adjusting a few settings on her custom arm brace, Mesa’s fingers tentatively wiggling over one of her slinger pistols. Then, without warning Harper dashed forward faster than any bullet traveled, closing the distance between them before blasting Mesa backwards. The frame stumbled to the ground, Harper running forward to blast the collar off the frame’s neck. At least that was her plan, as Mesa thrust her arm forward to hold the Tenno at arm’s length. Harper flailed, gripping onto Mesa’s arm as she tried to reorient herself, breathing heavily as the barrel was aimed at one of her eyes.

          A pure white beam of void energy smashed between the two, barely grazing Harper and shattering the clasps on the collar, the infected metal falling to the ground with a clatter. The Mesa itself too fell to her knees, seemingly in a dazed state as it cradled its head from what had just happened. Korah was glad that she decided not to go down to pursue her Nova, otherwise she really would be one friend short.

“Haah, that was close for comfort.” Harper breathed as she pushed herself to her feet. “Thanks for that.”

          The time to celebrate was short as the Helminth Charger soon bolted up the stairs, a limp in it’s stride before falling limp against Harper, in turn dropped down to assess the situation of her companion. The tussle wasn’t over just yet, they still needed to get the collar off Korah’s Nova, which quickly appeared through the portal as soon as it was made. Mouth pulled back into a snarl Korah took the less direct route and seemingly retreated further up the stairs, the Nova following suit. It was Korah’s hope to stall it to constantly jump back and forth between levels so then Harper or her Mesa could do something about it. Things weren’t looking so good though, as the Nova had caught onto her shenanigans and settled to start preparing molecular prime.

          In a blind panic, Korah stopped her game of cat and mouse and directly charged at Nova, jumping up and making her whole body a more direct distraction, kicking and shoving her heels into the Nova’s side. Nova flailed, trying to grab onto Korah to rip her off and throw her off to the side, but failed to do so in time as several gunshots rang out, shattering the collar around her neck. A gross, disgusting feeling crawled over her skin and stomach, releasing the Nova and making a noise of disgust. It felt as if she hadn’t eaten in days, but at the same time felt like she was going to purge a gobblebeast day dinner.

“Oh that is not fun…” She admitted out loud. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Now you know how I feel.” Harper chimed in as she pushed herself off the ground, her Mesa and Charger limping behind her. “Lets just get to extraction and get the hell outta here now.”

“I’m all for that.” Korah laughed weakly.

          With clutched stomachs and uneasy feelings, the group started to hobble their way towards extraction. Their Warframes, clearly still recovering from Alad’s tampering, found it within themselves to find the energy to make way for extraction. Korah kept close to her Nova, keeping her eyes and ears out for any pesky infected that decided to show up, Harper’s Charger growling and huffing as they made the slow walk back to their ships. The awkward silence allowed Korah to delve back into the situation at hand, and how convenient her memories of her friends caused Harper to show face after who knows how long. Again, perhaps she was looking far into it and was causing herself unnecessary unease, but this time it felt different. It wasn’t that something was wrong, or scary, it was the feeling that something bigger was headed their way and she wouldn’t be able to stop the events put into motion. It was a rather silly feeling, a feeling that she was willing to force herself to ignore.

          It was just a bad feeling, that was it, nothing more. It was probably because Alad was making himself a threat once more and that was giving her the heebie jeebies. That seemed to be the most logical solution to her worry, all the more reason to hunt him down and put him out of his misery.

          At least, she hoped it would be easy.


	8. What Happens Next?

          The days seemed to fly by since their escape. Soon it evolved into weeks, then months; all without a single peep from Harper. There were some answers, where she had been, what she had gotten up to, an assortment of other mishaps. Well, all of those were thanks to Cephalon Castor, he was being cooperative and satisfying Korah’s curious needs and queries. Harper herself seemed…distant, off even. This was not the person Korah grew up with, let alone survived with on the Zariman. Korah became hungry, desperate for more information. Something must have happened when they were put to sleep up until now. Detective Korah on the case and at your service. Or, she would have been. Cephalon Castor himself couldn’t remember what caused the drastic turn of personality. Moreover, he kept on insisting that this was the Harper that he knew and loved. She felt that secrets were being kept from her and she didn’t like it.

          What happened next hurt more than a Fang blade through the small part on her back. Harper had found out about their back and forth exchange and sent a message to her.

“Sorry Korah, but now’s not the time. I’ll contact you again when I have answers yeah?”

          Perhaps…she had been too intrusive, she had been afraid that she was going to lose her again. And now the looming fear that her pushiness had pushed away one of her only friends. But Pollux assured her that Harper may just need time to herself and when she was ready, they would be on speaking terms again. Korah wished to believe that was the case, but she had the strongest sense of déjà vu that crumpled her mood like a discarded idea. All of this seemed too strange, too bizarre. Korah had hoped that keeping an old, familiar, friendly face around would be good for the both of them. That was turning out not to be the case and it started to stew in her stomach like a flu bug.

          With a groan and a stretch, she forced herself to abandon the empty kitchen table and out to the rest of her Orbiter. She didn’t want to sleep, going against her slothful demeanor, nor was she in the mood for disemboweling Corpus or sniping Grineer. Already she could hear Pollux in her mind harping at her for shirking work and a handful of other things, including running around as Simaris’ nursemaid. Right, Simaris… Working for him wasn’t bad, she really did find thrill in the hunt and yet his guilt-tripping attitude for failing to catch a target made her want to mouth off at him. Lately these days though Simaris seemed to be…oddly happy. Which freaked her the hell out. Of course, she knew that was all of her doing, Simaris’ good mood. He was getting what he wanted and, like a child, begged for more and more. Now that she thought about it, Simaris asking for subjects for Sanctuary and her looking for answers about Harper’s demeanor, they were almost the same. Almost, she wasn’t being obsessive about it. Or at least she thought she wasn’t being obsessive, and if that was the case she didn’t mean to be at all. She was just worried.

          Walking up to the nav console she sat back down, crossing her legs and leaning forward, her chin on the hump of the machine. A frown pulled at her lips and she lowered her head, clenching her eyes shut. She wanted to do something, she just didn’t know what. Finally, after sensing another near outburst from her Cephalon she set her ship to head to Laundra Relay. Perhaps getting out and spending a day or two somewhere else would clear this cloud of misery and bring her around to her senses. Maybe then she would be up to tackling a mission or two and maybe Harper would be ready to talk again. She wasn’t setting anything in stone, but it was her hope and wish.

          Her Liset soon docked with the Relay and Korah disembarked in her light blueberry-colored Nova. It wasn’t as busy as it usually was tonight, that was a good thing for Korah, she typically hated crowds. It wasn’t she feared them or anything, it was the hustle and bustle, the craziness, the noise. All of these little factors that just made her mood go sour really quick. Well, she supposed that there were a few bonuses to have a crowded space station. For starters, she could do whatever obscene gestures to those who pissed her off and get away with it. Can’t really do that when the halls were bare like a newborn baby’s backside. Her thoughts carried her back to the wings of the Relay, where all of the Syndicates resided. She knew she wanted to collect her thoughts somewhere, and it was here that she remembered just the place she can do such a thing.

          Upstairs and opposite of Simaris’ little hub, past the blue energy scanners, were rooms upon rooms for Operators only. Well, not just Operators, anyone else who knew the truth, like the Syndicate leaders, could visit as well along with Teshin, Clem, and Darvo. It was a place where she and others like her could wander around without exposing other Tenno to the truth, to those who had yet to wake up from their lucid dream. It was here Tenno could rent out hotel-like rooms so that they may take a break from being saviors of the universe and just be themselves.  There were also several food locales, all escalating from cheap and tasty to expensive and divine. To top it all off there were a number of gaming rooms, digital and traditional alike, an exquisite swimming pool, a sauna, a workout room, an indoor track. It was quite literally an indoor paradise. It might as well be, as it was a group decision of the six Syndicates, as a thank you gift for all their hard work and perseverance protecting literally everything from evil doers. Of course, that didn’t stop them from using the facilities as well. The first few times they tried to deny it but eventually, they just admitted it. Sometimes, if she was lucky, she would catch the Red Veil leader and Cressa Tal having a beer together, laughing together, sharing stories and bragging rights. Suda wasn’t one to visit this part of the Relay since she was a Cephalon, but rarely she would appear and have small talk with the Tenno who followed her. And she never thought she would see the day the leader of the Arbiters having a digital chess game with Ergo Glast. She guessed that the Syndicates sometimes get tired being at each other’s necks all the time and wanted to be in a place where they could just unwind, if only for a moment or two. In the end, it almost felt like a much larger Orbiter, but it was shared with everyone in the known universe. To her, she thought all relays should be like Laundra, but alas, beggars can’t be choosers.

          But her favorite place was a classy little bar down at the end of the east wing, not exactly a place for children but sometimes she could be floated in if she was with familiar faces. It had these really fancy mood lights depending on the hour of the day, and the barkeep always knew how to make a mean Shirley Temple. Sure, some of the other places made it too, but no one could match that perfect lemon-lime fizzy cherry combo. It was also the smallest of the bunch, meaning when it was a rush hour it was really packed. Not for the food, but for the drinks as Korah learned very early on. She learned when they were the least busy and who was on staff that day. If it wasn’t terribly busy she would be floated in without adult supervision as the staff knew her quite well. Perks of hanging out with Syndicates and whatnot. It was also in this bar that some of the Kavor had salvaged and donated an old Earth jukebox. This was extremely ancient, according to the carbon stamping Simaris dated it to about the 1960’s. It was an incredible find, let alone that it was still working in the first place. Of course, it wasn’t 100% original, they had replaced the speakers and a butt ton of other things, but it still had the original look. At one point, Suda had asked if she could have it in her datascape but settled for a digital replica instead.

          As Korah left her Warframe to wander, she herself leaned into the doorway she immediately saw the familiar figure of Darvo pulled up to the bar, tall dark drink in hand and making small talk with the guy behind the counter. It wasn’t long until the barkeep spotted her, in turn, caused the Corpus black dealer to look back with him. Exchanging waves, he motioned the Tenno to come on in, patting the seat next to him.

“Fancy catching you out this late.” Darvo began. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

“Hardy har.” Korah retorting, giving the barkeep a small nod when they mouthed ‘the usual?’ “Figured I was in the area, so I’d grab a drink and harass anyone who was up at this hour.” There was a short pause, Korah noticing that a certain someone was missing. “Where’s Clem?”

“With Cressa. Apparently, something happened with Steel Meridian and the Red Veil; the folks at Iron Wake requested backup so she asked Clem if he wanted to go with.” He stated plainly, taking a draft of alcohol between thoughts.

“Do we know exactly what’s going on?” Korah became intrigued, after being out of the loop for a while this was news to her.

“Not yet.” Darvo continued. “The Red Veil’s medium, Palladino, is on route to find the source of the problem.” He scoffed. “Don’t ask me why they needed to take some spiritualistic nutbag with them, I think they’re just being paranoid.”

“I see…” Korah hummed in thought, trying to make heads and tails of what she had just heard.

          At that moment a bright pink Shirley Temple was slid in her direction, little umbrella, and everything. She wanted to drink it down immediately but found herself staring down at the dark red bottom of the glass. The Steel Meridian and the Red Veil had been allies for years, why would somebody or someone try to usurp their alliance? Aside from the Grineer and Corpus, of course, they were always assholes. How odd that an unseen force trying to drive a stake between the two Syndicates another one was just about to secure itself between her and Harper. She didn’t want to be afraid or paranoid, but she just couldn’t shake the dark cloud that had been following her around.

“I wouldn’t think too hard about it kiddo.” Darvo chuckled, snapping her from her train of thought. “Won’t do you any favors worrying about it.”

“Oh, no I wasn’t,” Korah replied quickly, taken back just enough to spook her, “I was just—nevermind.”

          An eyebrow rose as her abrupt dismissal, followed up by a deep breath or a sigh, whichever way an eavesdropper might view it.

“Okay, what’s the matter?” Darvo asked, forcing eye contact between the two. “And don’t lie to me either, you’ve had the face a Kubrow makes when it’s toy has been put away ever since you walked in. Tell Uncle Darvo what’s on your mind.”

          Uncle Darvo. She hadn’t heard that title in a long while and honestly, she thought he hated it for the longest time. It started out as an inside joke between other Tenno, as he would always “give gifts” that he “found”, but then he found out and everyone stopped referring to him as such. Until he asked why they weren’t calling him that anymore, and joked that they didn’t like him anymore. Thus, the nickname Uncle Darvo was born.

“…am I really that obvious?” Korah asked with a half sigh, half laugh.

“Like a book.” Darvo replied, taking another swig.

“…I found an old friend of mine, from the Zariman Ten-Zero.” Korah explained. “We were closer than paper and glue, between the two of us and another friend, I thought that nothing would change. That if we got separated we would find each other again, we could team up and save the universe together. But she’s changed. Not in a bad way, but it felt like I was talking to a brick wall. Distant but still there. I asked her Cephalon what they had been up to, and nothing really stuck out to me. She was practically doing the same thing I was: fighting assholes and looking for her old friends. But earlier today, with one message it felt like she shut me out. I know I shouldn’t have gone behind her back and bothered her Cephalon, but I wanted to know if anything was bothering her.”

“Well, you’re right about asking her Cephalon and not her personally. You should’ve known better.” Darvo replied as Korah took a sip of her own drink, listening to the Corpus defector. “Change can be both good and bad, sometimes you can stop it but most of the time you have no control over it. What you’ve told me is you’re putting too much thought into what happens next between you and your friend. You’re working yourself into a lather and you’re not doing yourself any good by doing so. Your friend it seems has a lot on her mind, it may not seem like it, but she just needs time to herself. And, if they said anything about contacting you later if they are a true friend they will get back to you.”

          Korah took a sip of fizzy cherry goodness, listening to Darvo but slowly deviated her eyes back to the depths of her drink.

“Do you really think that will happen?” She asked.

“I don’t know. Is she your best friend?” Darvo asked in return.

“Of course she is!” Korah replied swiftly, eyes wide as she stared at the dealer. “The best friend anyone can ask for.”

“Then you have your answer.” Darvo said with a smile and a wave of his hand. “She may need hours or days, perhaps even weeks. Patience my friend, and soon you’ll be fighting the same battles together, hm?”

“I really hope you’re right…” Korah mumbled quietly. After thinking his words over long and hard, she turned to look at him, a faint smile on her face. “Thanks for listening to me rant.”

          There was a small thump on the bar, Darvo had placed his hand on it, palm facing upwards.

“50,000 credits,” Darvo said in a very serious tone. “I don’t give away my thoughts for free.”

          For a split second Korah thought he was serious until she caught the slyest hint of a smirk. Grinning back, she dropped her own palm into his, withdrawing it quickly before he could grab it.

“There, all paid for and up front. Just like how you like it.” She replied, attempting to recreate his look but failing miserably and the jokester side showing through.

          With a fake scoff of betrayal, Darvo leaned over and caught Korah in a headlock, screwing up her shaven hairstyle, all the while cursing at her in Corpus. She made a little noise of shock, partially from his actions partially because she was falling out of her chair, but safely recovered herself when he pushed her away. As Korah fixed her now messy hair, Darvo briefly checked the time before downing the rest of his drink in one fluid motion, the glass hitting the wood with a pleasing thunk.

“I think I’ve done enough chit-chat for one night.” He stated soundly. “I should get back to the shop.”

“Really?” Korah too looked at the time. “Isn’t it past your bedtime?”

“When you’re my age, you don’t have a bedtime.” Darvo sneered, then turned and got off his stool, stretching. “Walk with me, I need some help in the shop briefly. You’re convenient and Clem’s not here.”

“Oh, sure, just a second!” She flicked on the payment window, getting ready to pay for both of their drinks when…

“Hey barkeep, put our drinks on my tab, will you?” Were Darvo’s last words before he walked out of the room.

          With a quick nod and a small ‘thank you’ to the bartender Korah took a few more sips of her own drink before rushing out to walk by Darvo’s side. The pair walked in silence, but she was feeling better than when she arrived. It was an unexpected conversation, but it helped put the demons at the back of her head to rest, and he was right. Harper would get back in touch eventually when she was ready of course. Then, and only then, could they start having fun together, just like in the old days. As they rounded the corner, ready to pass through the energy barrier once more that Darvo stopped, puzzled. The young girl followed his gaze across the way and noticed that the symbol for his door was not the bright locked red hue, but the brilliant cyan color that adorned most of the relay. Fearing a saboteur, Korah raised her arm and placed a hand on the back of her wrist, catching the smuggler’s eye, seeking his advice.

“Let’s not make a scene, if whatever is going on involves foul intentions, heh, don’t hold back.” Darvo advised, motioning her to lower her arm.

          And she did as was requested, for now, but every fiber of her being was on high alert. Pinging her Nova didn’t work, they were clearly busy with something else as they would’ve pinged back in response. They approached the door cautiously until it flung open suddenly as they stepped into the trigger zone. Nothing was out of the ordinary, nothing was touched or moved. The only thing that was different was Korah’s Nova, standing and staring at the other side of the room as if in disbelief. Korah’s eyes grew as she saw what was standing there.

          Another Warframe, a Chroma, dark blood red in coloration with hues of white and silver sprinkled about with bright jade energy, adorned with Embolist attachments of similar colors, a pitch black Abrasys over its shoulders. Leaned up against the wall, arms crossed and everything, was a boy, another Operator, little older than she was from the look of things, but it was hard to tell from the Void scarring. His hair was darker than the blackest night, yet the tips slowly faded to a dark steel blue coloration, skin was pale, and he wore the complete set of the Varida suit set in shades of navy blue, silver, and copper lining. The awkward silence must’ve caught the boy’s attention, as he opened his bright emerald green eyes and looked towards the doorway. He, too, was quick to adopt a shocked expression before breathing out:

“Korah?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter that was supposed to be posted during new years unexpectedly got delayed due to family and sickness. Fun times all around. But I am back at college and aside from classes and homework I am back to a regular writing schedule! Hopefully, maybe. I can't say for certain but we shall see! Anyways here is the chapter that was delayed for too long, chapter 9 I suspect will surface around the end of this month/Feburary!

**Author's Note:**

> Update 10/16/17 - Fixed grammatical errors and punctuation, decided to have the kitchen conversation anyways for plot reasons. >:3c


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